


Who Side Story

by Neveroutoftime



Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Happy Ending, M/M, Minor Character Death, Physical Abuse, West Side Story, West Side Story AU, Xenophobia, mentions of abuse, not too graphic though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-28
Updated: 2017-07-11
Packaged: 2018-09-20 09:03:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 66,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9484061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neveroutoftime/pseuds/Neveroutoftime
Summary: Instead of one man ending the time war, the high council decides to end it together, taking one single ship full of time lords -and a TARDIS or two- and heading for the stars, heading for Earth. After they crash land, tensions rise between the species, riots and protests break out in the streets. Things get bleak on Earth, but when one curious time lord meets two brave humans, the three of them just might change history. AU loosely based on West Side Story.





	1. Crashed

Rose Tyler woke to the loudest series of crashing noises she'd ever heard, followed by what sounded like a loud whining, and then sirens in the streets. She sat straight up in bed, then swung her feet over and ran over to the window to see what was going on outside. 

Looking down at the streets surrounding the Powell estate, she saw what appeared to be a large fire, with a pillar of smoke rising high into the sky. 

The young blonde quickly ran out of her room, and rushed to wake her mother, "Mum," she called out, knocking on her mother's bedroom door, "Mum, did you hear that noise?"

She knocked until her mother's sleepy form appeared before her, still tying her dressing gown. "What? What is it?"

"Mum something crashed outside," Rose breathed, "I don't know what it is, could be some sort of plane."

"Well, then the authorities will take care of it, won't they?" Her mother asked, "Nothing to wake me for."

Rose groaned, then tugged on her mother's arm, and pulled her to the window, and for the first time, the two of them got a good look at what had crashed. 

It was a fairly large object resembling an alien spacecraft from a science fiction movie. It had what looked like metallic wings, and ornate, circular designs decorating its side. At least, it did on the side that wasn't burning. The ship wasn't astronomically large in size, and looked no longer than any modern commercial jet Rose or her mother had ever seen before. 

"Well, that doesn't look like any plane I've ever seen," Jackie commented. 

"Me neither," Rose replied. 

Suddenly, they watched as a door seemed to open on the side facing them, the burning side, and what looked like people began to run out. Each of them ran faster than the last, it seemed, and wore rather funny robes, with the back of the robe stretching far above their heads, seeming rather ridiculous to Rose and Jackie. 

The blondes could hear them all yelling, and looked on as two of them seemed to stand at either side of the exit, ordering people to run out. "Can you hear what they're sayin'?" She asked her mum. 

The elder Tyler woman shook her head, "No, sounds like gibberish to me."

Rose gazed intensely at the ship, watching as the strangely dressed people poured out, and observed that there were far too many of them to have possibly been inside that ship. There were now about three hundred people standing on the streets outside the Powell estate, and still more pouring out. What she couldn't see was what had suddenly appeared behind the ship. Seven random cardboard box looking things, and the people that were also coming out of those. 

Next thing they knew, the side of the ship people were running out of collapsed. Rose ran away from the window, and grabbed her jacket, ignoring her mother's questions about what the hell she was doing. "Rose? What are you doing? Rose!"

She barely even looked back, "I've got to help them!" She cried, taking off down the hall of the building, and flying down the stairs in order to get to them on time. She only hoped she could help, that she wasn't too late, and that they'd accept help from a human, since she suspected that whoever they were, they were most certainly aliens. 

Rose burst outside just as one part of the ship collapsed, and the large crowd of newcomers screamed collectively. She ran rapidly towards the doors of the ship, earning many stares, and shocked gasps as she approached the burning wreckage. Immediately she noticed that there were no more people coming out of the ship, and she felt a sense of relief. 

That sense of relief didn't last long. As soon as she felt the relief, the two she'd seen at the door earlier came running out, and screamed something in an unintelligible language whilst gesturing into the ship. Rose didn't know what it meant, but she gathered that it meant something along the lines of "there's more inside."

She rushed up to the ship, but was stopped by one of the men, a man with spiky brown hair and eyes of the same color, and some thick eyebrows. "I know you can't understand me," she explained, "but I just want to help!"

He paused for a second, then motioned for the man beside him to go back into the ship, and he obliged before the strange, very human looking alien turned his gaze back to her. "Is this earth?" He asked in a London accent, surprising the hell out of Rose. 

The blonde girl nodded, "Yes, it is," she replied confusedly, "How...?"

He gazed about his surroundings in wonder, ignoring his burning ship for a moment and staring up at the night sky with a smile on his face. “Wow,” he breathed. 

“How can you speak English?” Rose asked curiously, wondering just how on Earth they were actually having this conversation. Or any conversation for that matter. It should be impossible for them to talk. Not even everyone on Earth spoke English, let alone everyone in the universe.

Before he could answer, the sound of sirens began to blare louder than it had before, indicating that at last the authorities had arrived. The alien placed a hand on her back, and lead her away, "You can't be here," he said quietly as he lead her back towards the building she came from.

"I can't leave until I know you're all alright!" Rose cried. 

"That's very kind of you, but I can assure you, we'll be fine, just go before your authorities get here and start asking you questions you don't know the answer to," was his reply. 

Sighing, she gave him a nod, and began to walk away, but she didn't get very far before his voice entered her ears again, "I'm the Doctor, by the way," he announced, "What's your name?"

She turned around, and faced him for the second time, "Rose, its Rose."

He grinned, "Nice to meet you, Rose, now run for your life." 

Then he ran back to his people, and disappeared into the crowd. 

Rose in the meantime ran back up to her flat, and was immediately yelled at by her mother. 

"What the bloody hell were you thinking, Rose? You could've gotten yourself killed out there!"

"I wouldn't have! They stopped me before I could even enter the ship to help them!"

"But we don't know what they are! This could be an invasion for all we know! What were you thinking?"

"But it's not an invasion, mum! They crashlanded! I don't know why they're here, but it's not to hurt us! And English! I spoke to one of them, and he spoke English! Can you believe it?"

Her mum took a step back, "English? Aliens know English?"

Rose nodded, "Yeah, and they look just like us. Human. Every detail of them was human. Two arms, two legs, one head... I could go on."

Jackie stared at her in bewilderment. There was no way anything her daughter was saying was possible. No way that anything that had even happened in the past few hours was possible. And yet, there it was. The red and blue lights of police cars were shining through their flat window. Fire trucks surrounded the area and were pointing their hoses at the ship. Military helicopters were circling the area, and other military personnel were also on the ground, surrounding the strangely dressed people, and leading them away from the crash site. 

Rose and her mother gazed out the window, still awestruck by what was happening right in front of them. A silence began to fall between the two, and Jackie was quick to break it. 

"Just cause he spoke English doesn't mean he's friendly, you know."

"Mum, would you just leave it?"

"You could've died."

"I didn't!"

"Rose, I'm your mother, and I know you're a grown woman, but I'm still gonna worry about you, and you going out and just immediately trusting these strangers? Not knowing what they could do to ya? That worried me, Rose!"

Another silence fell between them before Jackie walked into the kitchen, "I think I'm gonna make tea, you want some?"

Rose followed swiftly behind her mother, "Sure."

That was the first night the aliens spent on earth. The next morning the entire world was flooded with reports of what had happened just outside the Powell estate, and residents of the aforementioned area received notes posted to their doors announcing that they needed to be prepared for anything. Nothing else. Just a vague anything. 

Every single channel had a news stream about it, even the kids channels, which Rose could usually escape the regular news on. Not that she wanted to. She wanted to know everything about this new species, and it's strange, possibly bigger on the inside method of travel. There was just no way that six hundred people managed to fit inside of a ship that small. No way at all. 

As Rose, her mother, and their occasional visiting neighbors watched, they learnt more and more about the species. They could indeed speak English. All of them could. They came from the planet Gallifrey, in the constellation of Kasteborous. 

They learned all of this throughout the coming weeks in a series of clips released from United Nations conferences. The global organization had decided that since everyone already knew about the new arrivals, they may as well make the information public. 

"And what did you say your species was called?" The British foreign secretary asked on the television.

The grey haired stranger they were questioning at that moment was standing behind a podium facing the rest of the conference room, "We're called the Time Lords, sir," he replied, "We're a very advanced species from a planet across the galaxy. Gallifrey, as one of my friends mentioned earlier."

"Ah, yes," the foreign secretary responded, "The Doctor, he called himself. Tell me, how is it that you speak English and know so much of our planet?"

"We've had the means to travel throughout space and time for a long time, sir, but our primary task has been watching over the universe, making sure everything happened as it was supposed to, and no one went messing about in time."

"So, the time lords are time travelers, then?" 

"That would be correct, sir, but we do not interfere with time."

The foreign secretary turned to face the rest of the room, "Time travelers who don't meddle in time, eh?" He commented, earning a modest chuckle from the room, "So, if you can do all of this, why are you here on this planet? Why did you choose to disrupt the natural order?"

A solemn look appeared on the grey haired man's face, "There was a war," he replied, "A terrible war. The last great time war between our race and another, the Daleks. It raged on for hundreds of years. We were growing tired. Our numbers grew lower and lower but the Daleks were relentless, sir, they wouldn't stop. We had to use the ultimate weapon to end the war. It killed every single one of our people and theirs, except for the six hundred or so that arrived with the ships."

"How do we know that you're not just here to use that great weapon on us? How do we know you aren't lying and this is an invasion attempt."

"You don't. But can you look me in the eyes, and tell me I'm lying when all we want is a home?"

A silence fell over the crowd, and it was another minute before the foreign secretary turned towards them again, "We're stuck with them, whether we like it or not," he told them, "What do you propose we do?"

Over the next five weeks, a plan came together. The time lords would be living near their crash site. They were to live in a series of low budget hotels just a quarter mile away from the Powell estate area where they'd landed. They'd become slowly integrated with human society from there. 

Once settled in, each time lord would be given Earth names, and they were to be documented as such, but not as citizens of the earth. There had been no interest in allowing them that. 

The people of earth grew restless. A great many of them held protests and marches pleading against allowing the aliens to live on their planet. Some in the London area even tried to attack the time lords in their new residence. 

All of this led to fences being put up around their new home, and military guards being employed at the entrances to ensure that no one who wasn't supposed to be there went inside. This was done under the guise of protecting them from the public, but everyone knew that it was truly about keeping the public protected from them. 

Rose's neighbors were among the many who didn't support the time lords' arrival on their planet. Many times she could hear them talking all hush-hush with her mother about how unsafe they felt, and what the aliens could've brought with them. 

The whole ordeal had Rose rolling her eyes. As far as she could tell, the time lords were people with a different home world, and, according to one of the broadcasts, two hearts and an extended life span. 

“They’re aliens with insane abilities, Rose,” her mother reminded her one day, “Aliens who can travel anywhere through space and time, or at least they could.”

“Mum, please,” Rose pleaded, “They can’t do it anymore, they said.”

“Ah, ah, that’s what the government said,” Jackie replied, “There’s only so much information they can share with the public. You saw what happened in the beginning. There were riots all the way up to our street! They’ve had to be a bit quieter after that, haven’t they?” 

“Mum, you sound like a nutter!”

“Least I didn’t run head first into a fire to rescue people who might’ve been here to kill me.”

Rose sighed, and gave her mother a disappointed look before heading out of the room. 

“Wait,” her mum said, standing up from where she’d been sitting, “Rose, I’m sorry, I know I’ve been harsh, but I’m just worried.”

Her daughter nodded, “I know,” she replied, “I’ve just got to go, my shift at Henrik’s starts in half an hour.” She gave her mother a brief kiss on the cheek before she grabbed her things, and left the flat without another word. 

Despite Jackie’s apology, Rose knew her mother hadn’t changed her opinion. It was likely that she never would. She tended to agree with whatever the neighbors said, and in that moment, they weren’t saying the greatest things. 

All she knew was that the time lords were in for an interesting life on Earth, if this was truly the place they were meant to settle after Gallifrey had fallen. 

Their arrival had changed everything. Nothing would ever be the same. But the biggest change hadn't even arrived yet. The biggest change would come seven months later when one curious time lord would decide to explore earth for the first time.


	2. The Time Agent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor manages to escape the community where all the time lords reside, and immediately runs into a fellow time traveler.

Six weeks later...

The Doctor woke up in his hotel room bed with a gasp. Another night plagued by nightmares. The fifth in a row. He wondered when it would end. 

The nightmares weren't even just about the time war. Now he had nightmares about the riots, and the people that were attacking him. He tried not to let it bother him. He tried not to think about how after just one week on earth he'd been beaten just outside the gates of the time lord's community badly enough to have multiple stress fractures along his left leg. They'd beaten him within sight of the guards, whom he'd swear had waited a good ten seconds before they actually ran to help him. Then they let his assailants go with a slap on the wrist. 

He'd tried to report the incident to the police officer stationed in the community, but it had been pointless. The officer had fought with him over the name he'd used. When he'd called himself by The Doctor, he'd been shut down. He'd been forced to use his newly given Earth name John Smith. 

As he swung his legs over the bed, he tried to shake off the nightmares, tried to forget all of the bad things that had happened to him and his species. Their numbers, which were once in the billions, were now dwindling at about six hundred. He still couldn't believe that they, the time lords, only had enough time to evacuate six hundred people before they pressed the button that destroyed Gallifrey and Skaro. 

The time war had ended. But they had lost their home, and now they were stuck somewhere that didn't want them. 

The Doctor walked over to the closet that had been provided to him, and surfed through the clothes to find something he liked. Since their arrival, they'd been forced to adapt to Earth culture. They'd taken earth names, been given Earth clothing, Earth healthcare, and Earth food... the list went on. They weren't allowed to wear their traditional Gallifreyan robes outside because the humans in charge feared that once they allowed the time lords outside, they would be attacked. Everyone knew that the real reason was because of the humans' xenophobia, but no one dared acknowledge it out loud. 

While the Doctor dressed, he thought hard about what he was going to do that day. He had to escape the community, and he had to do it in a way that wouldn't get him caught. If he was caught, he'd surely face harsh consequences. It'd be like what happened to him in the alley, but worse. Ever since the first riots, the time lords had been trapped inside their hotels, and he was sick of it. 

But that wasn't the only reason why he needed to get out. His main reason was that his TARDIS was out there. The one he'd stolen many, many years ago when he was much, much, younger, and in his very first form. Now he was on his tenth. How time flew. He missed the days before the war when he'd travel to Earth, and take human companions out to see the stars. His hopes were that once he escaped, he would be able to resume that life. He wouldn't be trapped anymore. At least, he'd be able to one day. It was still so soon since the time war, and he couldn't quite bring himself to leave his people just yet. They still needed each other.

The time lord settled for a brown pinstriped suit, and a tie with similar coloring, and a brown trench coat. He always had been a Firefly fan. He picked out a pair of beige converse to finish off the ensemble, and immediately began to get dressed. 

Once he was dressed, he looked out of his window, and gazed at the sights around him, or rather, at the gate surrounding the community. It was a tall, wire structure rising at least fifteen feet into the air. At the top, there was barbed wire to discourage any of the Gallifreyans from sneaking out of their prison—community. Not that anyone had attempted it yet. After the attacks on the Doctor and a few others, no one wanted to step foot outside. No one else had an interest in exploring earth. 

He only had an interest because he needed to reunite with his TARDIS.

The Doctor scanned the gate, which was easily climbable, and if he was careful, the barbed wire wouldn't hurt him. But even if he was careful, there was nothing to be done if the fence was electric. And there was definitely nothing to be done if the guards who regularly walked around the perimeter of the community caught him trying to get out. 

It almost seemed impossible. But it had to be done. He couldn't stand being trapped inside of the prison for another minute. The Doctor had to escape, and this would be the day. 

With that thought, he left the window, and walked out of his room. He walked down the dimly lit hallway, which was lit that way because it was still very early in the morning. The sun hadn't even risen yet. Everyone else was sleeping. The guards most likely were between shifts. Now was the time. 

The time lord rushed swiftly down the hall, and took the emergency stairs to get down to the first floor from the sixth, where he'd been assigned to live. From there, he opened the stair door into an empty, barely lit save for an emergency exit light, hallway, and used the emergency exit door to escape. 

Mercifully, the door didn't beep, and it swung open with ease, allowing the Doctor easy access to the open air between the hotel and the fence. He stood still for a moment, checking to see if he could hear a guard, then, upon hearing none approach him, he walked up to the fence. 

His face tensed as he listened for signs that the fence was electric. The fence remained silent, and he smiled as he launched himself onto the fence, and began to climb as swiftly as he could. The sooner he was out of the community the better. 

He reached the top of the fence in a few seconds, then stopped as he reached the barbed wire, taking a moment to assess the best way to climb over it. Then, he swiftly climbed up the fence a little more, and carefully stepped over the barbed wire section, straining to hold his balance as he moved, then straining himself further to get the rest of his body over the fence. 

Suddenly, the foot he'd initially swung over the fence, his right foot, slipped, and the Doctor fell. He held on only by his finger tips, and even then he knew he was going to fall at any second. He was breathing heavily as his feet searched for a firm grip on the fence once more... just as the sound of two guards talking entered his ears. He didn't have very long to finish making his escape. 

Thinking fast, the time lord hurriedly climbed down using his hands alone, then ran off down the street into the city of London. At last, he was going to reunite with his TARDIS. 

As soon as he was a good mile or so from the community, he slowed his run to a walk, and looked about his surroundings. He wasn't quite near where he'd left his ship, he realized. In his rushed escape, he hadn't quite paid attention to where he was going, and now he was certain that he was on the opposite end of Cardiff from where he was supposed to be. 

He was walking past the building with all the letters on it, and the big water fountain as the sun finally begin to shine, and the human workforce of the city began rushing about. 

The Doctor stared at it all in awe. No matter how many times he saw plain old Earth, it still fascinated him. Somehow, despite all of the suffering he'd endured since his most recent arrival on the planet, he still loved it. The time lords had certainly put him through worse. 

His eyes wandered rapidly, taking in the very familiar sights of the city. If he was being honest, he was mostly enthralled with it because it wasn't the damn prison. 

As he walked, he became increasingly lost in thought as he pondered a number of things. He thought about how to get to his ship, how he'd sneak the TARDIS and himself back inside the hotel so his escape and return wouldn't be detected, and how he'd slowly try to resume his normal life while grieving the loss of Gallifrey. 

The Doctor was so lost in thought that he didn't notice the man walking in his path until they collided, their shoulders brushing against each other so harshly that each man was facing a different direction by the end of it. 

"Hey, watch it!" An American accent cried out. 

"Sorry," the Doctor replied, brushing off his shoulder and looking at the admittedly handsome stranger. 

The human man standing before him was fairly tall, about the Doctor's height, and wore a navy blue military jacket. He was on the pale side, and had sparkling blue eyes. He also had a rather familiar looking black gadget poking out of one of his sleeves, causing the Doctor to realize that this human was definitely not ordinary. 

"It's fine," the man told the Doctor, "Believe me, in this city, I've had worse."

The Doctor grinned, "Sounds like you've been here a while, then."

"Only a couple of days," the stranger confessed, "I'm just passing through." 

The time lord glanced down at the black gadget sticking out of the man's jacket, "Oh, I could tell, agent," he replied, pointing to it.

"I—I don't know what you mean."

"I think you do," the Doctor said with a lowered voice, "Why don't we pop off to the side and have a little chat, hmm? One time traveler to another?"

To his surprise, the man complied, and soon enough, the two were off the street, and standing near the Thames as they spoke. The Doctor was eager to learn about the mysterious time agent he'd just encountered. 

As soon as they were away from the more crowded street, the man turned to him, "Guess I need to come up with a better hiding spot for this little guy, huh," he admitted, pushing the gadget further up his sleeve. 

"Guess so," was the Doctor's response, "How'd you get your hands on one of those? Far as I know they're only handed out to time agents."

The man nodded, "They are. I was one for a few years until I found out that they'd stolen two years worth of my memories. I wanted them back, and they refused, so I left. Now I'm just time-freelancing."

"Well, that would be one hell of a reason to leave, wouldn't it... uh... what's your name?"

The former time agent extended his hand toward the Doctor, "Captain Jack Harkness," he answered, with a smile that bordered on flirtatious, "And who are you?"

The Doctor paused, "The D— John Smith."

Jack chuckled, "Something tells me that's not it," he told the time lord, "But I feel like my next question might answer that for me..."

"And what question might that be?"

"How exactly do you travel through time? I don't see a vortex manipulator on you, unless you're hiding it in a more clever place than I was, but... I think your stuttered name says you used something else to travel."

The Doctor raised his eyebrows and nearly took a step back, the other time traveler had gotten every guess right. "You're right," he confessed, "I don't use a vortex manipulator, I have no need for it. Not where I'm from."

Jack thought for a moment, then his facial expression changed as he realized what the time lord was implying. "You're one of them," he breathed, "you're a time lord, aren't you?"

"I'm only a time lord if you're not going to say anything to anyone about it," the Doctor warned him. 

The captain put his hands up, "Wasn't even thinking about it, just wanted to know."

The Doctor gave the man a small nod of approval before he spoke again, “Yes, I am a time lord,” he confessed, “And yes, I’m not supposed to be out here. In my defense, I had no idea how long I’d be trapped in there.” He pointed to the community he had been kept in for the last six weeks. 

Jack’s eyes widened slightly, and he seemed to ponder something for a moment, “So you decided to go rogue,” he observed, “Explore a planet you’ve never been to on a whim?”

The time lord shook his head, “No, no, I’ve been here before, you see,” he explained, “Before the war… I used to travel in this ship… I stole it a long time ago, they were mad, banished me to Earth, la dee da, and I had to leave it here when I went off to fight. I’m out here looking for it actually.” He looked around the city, hoping that by some miracle his ship would appear before him and save him the time of having to walk all the way across town. 

The other time traveler looked slightly stunned, “Wow,” he breathed, “Do you even know where your ship is?”

The Doctor nodded, “Yeah, it’s a ways away, on the other side of town,” he muttered, “It’ll take me… hmm… Five hours? Six? No more than seven, I suspect, to get there.”

“Maybe I could help,” Jack offered, pointing to the vortex manipulator, which was still hidden within his sleeve. 

Looking up at the other man, the Doctor smiled. Though he didn’t normally accept rides via vortex manipulator, he was willing to make an exception. Especially if it got him even further away from the Gallifreyan prison. “That’d be brilliant,” he said warmly, “Thank you.”

Jack smiled, “No problem,” he replied, sliding the vortex manipulator back out from its hiding place, “Mind giving me the coordinates?”

Ten minutes later Jack and the Doctor were wandering hopelessly through an alley, without much luck in finding his Tardis. They’d been busily chatting away, but their eyes had remained keen on searching for their target. If it was there, they wouldn’t have missed it.

“You sure it was this particular alley?” Jack asked, before checking his vortex manipulator, “Cause this thing isn’t showing any faults.”

The Doctor shrugged, “Maybe not,” he admitted, “But I could’ve sworn…” At that moment, they rounded a corner, and as they approached an alcove full of rubbish bins, one thing stood out from the scenery. The Tardis was right there in front of them. The Doctor laughed in delight, and immediately ran up to his ship, pulling out the keys he’d struggled to keep hidden from the humans for weeks, and unlocking her blue doors for the first time in ages. 

“Ha!” he exclaimed, “Finally! Oh, hello, old girl.” He gently stroked the side of the ship, completely forgetting that he wasn’t alone for a moment. “It’s me, I know, it’s been a while, but… I’m back.” 

Jack cleared his throat, “You two wanna be alone?” he asked cheekily. 

The Doctor tore himself away from his ship for a moment, then he propped the door open, “You want to see?” he offered, pushing it open just a little bit more. 

The Captain laughed, “Bit small, isn’t it?” he inquired, studying the Doctor’s face carefully as he tried to gauge exactly what he was going to see beyond those blue doors. 

His new friend cocked his head in the direction of his ship, and slowly, almost hesitantly, he walked through the doors. Within the first second, he noticed one very obvious detail. It was bigger on the inside. As if that weren’t enough, the ship was very alien in its design, taking on a coral architecture, with a console of sorts in the center of the room, which he presumed was for driving the ship. He suddenly felt like he had to compensate for his small, now unimpressive vortex manipulator. 

Jack stepped back out of the ship, “Whoa,” he breathed, sparing a glance in the Doctor’s direction before he plundered back in again, “Whoa.”

He vaguely heard the time lord enter in behind him as he walked around the circular console, admiring every detail of it. The ship truly was beautiful. A pale green light bathed everything in a mysterious sort of glow, from the many buttons and levers, to the grating of the floor, to the captain’s bench off to the side, and the intricate coral structures stretched all the way up to the ceiling fairly high above his head. The alien ship was quite a marvel in Jack’s eyes. It had the added bonus of being bigger on the inside. 

“Welcome to the Tardis, Jack,” the Doctor said, interrupting Jack’s thoughts, “Well, welcome to A Tardis, I should say. We brought a few more with us.”

Jack turned to his friend, “Really? How’d you hide them from the government?” he asked, “I thought they did a pretty thorough search of all the Gallifreyan stuff.”

The Doctor gestured to the outside of the Tardis, “These ships are designed to blend into wherever they land,” he explained, “A sort of cloaking mechanism. Keeps them from getting noticed. The other ships we brought with us disguised themselves as cardboard boxes when they got here. No one would notice them. No one would care.”

The Captain scratched his head, “Well, that explains that,” he replied, stepping closer to the Doctor, “Now, you’ve shown me all this, I helped you get here, and we’ve been playing this game of twenty questions, but there’s still one thing I really want to know.”

“And what’s that, then?” 

“What’s your actual name, John Smith?”

“…Oh…” the time lord paused, “You see, we can’t give that out to anyone, it’s a bit of a secret,” he explained, walking around the circular console, “Instead, we’ve got titles that we go by. They’re all quite normal titles, don’t know why you lot wouldn’t let us keep them, but you insisted that we take Earth names… Anyway, rambling, sorry, I do that a lot, um, my name is the Doctor.”

“Doctor who?”

“Just the Doctor,” he said with a grin, “Sorry, love it when they say that, gets me every time.” 

Jack laughed, “Guess I’d get a kick out of it too,” he confessed, sitting down on the bench, “So, what are you going to do now that you’re free? Are you ever gonna go back to the community? Or…”

The Doctor sighed, and sat down beside the captain, “I might have to,” he replied, “Sure, I could take this ship anywhere in time and space and be back home before the clock strikes noon, but… It would almost feel… wrong to leave the rest of my people behind at the moment. Before the war, I would’ve left them in a heartbeat, but now?”

“Now…?”

“Now… I can’t leave them behind to suffer. It’s not fair that they’re trapped in there, and I’m freelancing. Hell, I shouldn’t even be here.”

Jack laid a hand on the Doctor’s shoulder, then looked up at him with confusion in his eyes, “You said they were suffering,” he observed, “What’s it like in there?”

“In the community?” The Doctor questioned, then he looked up as he gathered his thoughts, “… Tense. Incredibly tense. Could be the post-war trauma, could be…” He had to take a moment to breathe, suddenly recalling with an intense ferocity the night of his assault, “The way they treat us. They say the guards are there to watch over my people, but they’re really not. They’re there to keep us in line. Any step out of it results in punishment. I can only imagine what they’d do if they found me out here.”

A silence fell between the two of them, and they could hear the quiet hum of the ship’s engines and the sound of their own breathing quite vividly. At one point, it was so quiet, the Doctor was certain that he could hear their hearts beating. 

Jack was the first to interrupt the quiet, “Well, the good news is, they’re letting the lot of you out next week,” he told the time lord, who looked at him in shock, “Yeah, they’re gonna start integrating you with human society.”

“Oh, that’s brilliant!” the Doctor exclaimed happily as he stood up, and leaned back against the console, “I won’t have to jump the fence again. Had a close call this morning, not exactly an experience I’d care to repeat.”

Jack chuckled, “It’s great, but they’re doing it their way,” he explained, “The humans have got it in their minds that the best way to start this all off is…” he laughed again, “They’re having this big… social gathering… like a fancy dinner between your race and ours. It kind of sounds like a school dance, the way they’re advertising it.”

The time lord scratched his head, “I take it they’re only telling the humans this?” he inquired. 

His human friend nodded, “It would appear so,” he replied, “They keep saying that they’re going to inform the time lords, but, the Human-Alien relations committee is full of some of the best liars in government. They’re known to lie their pants off, and not in the fun way.”

“Huh,” the Doctor scoffed, toying with the lever behind him, “Well, this is just a bit hilarious.”

“How?”

“Well, before we… lost our planet, we used to… Look down on the human race as inferior, since we’ve admittedly got superior biology, and we acted like…”

“Pompous dicks?” Jack offered with a smug grin on his face. 

“Suppose so, yeah,” the Doctor replied, continuing to fiddle with the lever, “But the funny thing is, we never imagined that they’d ever have control over us. We were the time lords, they were the humans. But here we are.”

Jack stood up, and approached the Doctor, standing perhaps a tad too close to him, “Maybe it’s time to take control, then,” he suggested, “Why be submissive when you want to be dominant?” He waggled his eyebrows at the time lord. 

“You’re quite the flirt aren’t you?” the Doctor asked, eyeing Jack up and down. 

“You could say it’s my calling in life,” Jack responded, crossing his arms and glancing at the console, “I know you said you didn’t want to leave your people behind, but you shouldn’t have to lose this much control over your life. None of you should. Take this baby out for a spin. Just one trip.”

The time lord thought about what his new friend was suggesting. He truly had been tempted to take the ship and run ever since he’d arrived on Earth… But he couldn’t. It still didn’t feel right to leave them, not so soon after the war, after he’d almost lost all of them… If it hadn’t been for a last minute suggestion by Rassilon, the lord president, The Moment would’ve killed all of them. Because of this, he felt as if he needed to spend every second that he possibly could surrounded by his own people. But on the other hand, he desperately wanted to take the Tardis somewhere.

In the same moment as he was convincing himself not to do it, he came up with an easy solution that would allow him to travel in the Tardis once more, and remain by the side of his people.  
“Aha!” he exclaimed, running around the console and pulling levers and pushing buttons. The ship’s engines began to emit their signature scraping noise as the ship moved through the time vortex. 

“Where are we going?” Jack asked, clinging to the console as the ship bounced about, “Somewhere interesting?”

The Doctor shook his head, “Not to me, no,” he told his companion as the ship’s movements slowed to a halt. 

Jack cocked his head to the side, puzzled, then he looked at the ship’s doors, “Mind if I look first?” 

The time lord gave him a “go ahead,” gesture, then the captain waltzed over to the doors, and slowly pushed them open to reveal a loud, dimly lit storage room. The room was no more than twelve feet in height, and shelves rising up the walls on either side covered with a light layer of cobwebs. It looked like no one had been here in years.

Jack stepped out of the ship, and examined his surroundings further. Four feet in front of him was a door, which had a faded “Regency Inn,” sign stamped at about eye level. It didn’t take him long to figure out where he was from there. He was in the time lords’ community. Presumably in the basement of the Doctor’s hotel.

“That’s clever,” he told the Doctor, who had stepped out of the ship to join him.

“You suggested one trip, and I couldn’t quite leave, so I compromised,” the time lord confessed, “Didn’t quite feel like using your vortex manipulator again.”

“Hey!”

“Sorry, time travel without a capsule, nasty stuff, not a fan,” he said casually, “Anyway, unless you fancy getting stuck here, I suggest you vortex manipulate your way out.”

“Aw, ending our first date early?” Jack asked teasingly, “Does my breath stink or something?”

The Doctor found himself laughing genuinely for the first time in a while, and he looked up at Jack, “Yes, your breath is absolutely horrible,” he replied sarcastically, “Now, I really should get going.”

Jack nodded, “Oh, I’m sure,” he said flirtatiously, “But not before you agree to come with me to the ‘social gathering,’ they’re having next week. Well, you’d really be going with me and a friend of mine, but she can just third wheel if you want to make it a date.”

The Doctor shook his head, a smile still on his face, “I’d love to come with you, well, both of you,” he told Jack, “If this friend of yours is anything like you, it’ll make for one hell of an evening.”

The captain smirked, “Then it’s settled,” he replied, “They’re having the event in one of your hotel ball rooms next Thursday apparently. We’ll meet you there.” The former time agent then lifted up his arm, and began to enter coordinates into his vortex manipulator, “Till next time, Doctor.”

“Captain,” the Doctor addressed him as he pressed a button on the black, high tech wrist accessory, and disappeared. 

The time lord smiled as he turned around, and locked the Tardis. In just one day outside of the prison he was being held in, he’d already found his ship, and become friends with another time traveler. Not only that, but he’d been able to discover that their freedom wasn’t far away. Just one week from this day, he would be running freely through the streets of London, and he would be back to actually interacting with the humans instead of living under their rule. 

With this thought in mind, the Doctor grinned, and pushed the storage room door open to reveal another dimly lit hall, with the emergency exit staircase he’d used to escape the hotel many hours earlier. He looked both ways to make sure that no one was coming, then he quietly dashed out of the room, and towards the stairs. The Doctor practically skipped up the stairs, only stopping when he reached his floor. He then slowly pressed the door to the hallway open, checking four times to make sure the coast was clear of even other time lords before he finally made his way down the hall, and headed into his room.

He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do next. He felt like he had all of the opportunity in the world. For the first time since before he’d gone off to fight in the war, since before his big-eared, leather jacket wearing self had nearly been forced to kill off the entire species, and before he’d regenerated again thanks to a battle wound, he finally felt like things were looking up for him. He could sense it too. His future was currently full of more delight than pain. 

The Doctor could only hope it would stay that way as he laid down on his bed, kicked off his chucks, and closed his eyes, hoping for a nightmare-less sleep.


	3. Dancing with Doctors

The same morning that Jack met the Doctor, Rose woke up to her alarm at 7:30 on the dot. She groaned as she rolled over, and turned it off. She had no desire to show up to work today, the only reason she even worked at Henrik's was because she needed the money. 

Ever since she'd quit school for Jimmy Stone, her life hadn't exactly gone the way she planned. She used to want so much for herself, but then he happened, and then he left her. Then she was nothing. At least, that's what she felt like most days. 

She had some comfort from her friends nowadays. Her ex-boyfriend Mickey was always good company. They still got along brilliantly despite the complicated past between them. The only problem with Mickey, was that he hated the time lords almost as much as her mother, making many of the same claims. 

"Rose, they could kill us," he'd protest. 

"Mickey, I'm telling you, they're just here for shelter, they've got nowhere else!" She'd reply. 

"But, Rose, that's a whole other species, they're dangerous," he'd say. 

"But, Mickey, where the hell else are they supposed to go?"

She sighed, trying to remember just how many times they'd had that conversation. Too many, she thought to herself, far too many. 

Her other friend had only come into her life about a week ago. Captain Jack Harkness had strolled into Henrik's asking about trench coats with a smile on his face, and a confident posture. She had instantly found him charming, and despite some initial flirting—she'd gathered that that was just part of his personality—they wound up fast friends. 

She was quick to tell him everything, amazed by how much she trusted him, like she somehow knew that he would never betray her. Not like people in her past. He told her one too many things about himself as well, including the things she would’ve thought impossible before the time lords crash-landed. 

Jack also understood her point of view on the aliens, and thought it fascinating that she'd actually gone out and met one on the night of the crash. 

"You actually met one of them?" He asked incredulously, "You met a fucking time lord?"

"Oi, watch your language, you," she told him, lightly smacking his shoulder as they sat by the water fountain, "There are children around."

He laughed, "Oops, my bad," he said with a chuckle, "You actually met a freaking time lord?"

She nodded, "Yeah, I did," she confessed, "He was tall, very thin, even with those robes, you could tell, and he had some great hair.... some really, really great hair."

Jack raised an eyebrow, "Sounds dreamy," he replied, "Didn't know you were into aliens, Rose."

Rose scoffed, "I'm not!" She exclaimed, "Well, if they look just like us... maybe I could be."

They'd both fallen into another bout of laughter, then Rose had to leave shortly after. Her break time from work was up. 

And that thought brought her back to where she was in that moment. Lying in her bed. Her alarm having only been silent for a moment as she contemplated taking a sick day. But then, she remembered, just the day before, Jack had called her, and told her he had big news regarding the time lords. "Maybe you'll reunite with your man," he'd teased. 

He'd then promised that he'd give her the news "tomorrow, while you're at work," because he wanted to see the look on her face, but then he’d given away the fact that he was just taking her to the integration ceremony, where humans and time lords would finally be able to interact with each other. Then, realizing he’d given away his surprise, he promised her that the two of them would just shop for things to wear to the dance instead. 

With a sigh, Rose threw back the covers, and hopped out of bed. She dressed quickly in a gray t-shirt and jeans, throwing on a burgundy jacket with similarly colored sleeves over the shirt since the day wasn't the warmest London had ever seen. 

As soon as she was dressed, she waltzed out into the family room, and gave her mum a kiss on the cheek, "Love you!" She sing-songed before she grabbed her mobile, and left the flat. 

Half an hour later, she strolled through the doors at Henrik's, and set to work. She spent the next few hours folding clothes that customers had cavalierly tossed aside like it was nothing, and occasionally helping someone with a problem. 

It bored her to tears, and she kept checking the clock as it ticked on and on towards her lunch break. She began to wonder if Jack was ever going to show up. 

She took her lunch break, and ate alone by the fountain for the first time in a week. Why had Jack abandoned her? He was never this late in meeting her. She could only ponder the reasons why. 

As soon as she got back from her break, however, she saw the Captain waiting for her by a denim display. "Oh, you bloody idiot!" She cried, "Where've you been?" She smacked his arm. 

"Ow," he muttered, running the spot carefully, "If you would like to know," he lowered his voice, "I just spent the past three hours with a time lord."

Rose gaped at him. There was no way he could've possibly spent that much time with a time lord. They were trapped in a compound of sorts. There was no way for them to get out and just start chatting away with humans. Not for another week when they finally began the integration process. "That's impossible," she breathed.

He shook his head, "Nope, he was a time lord," he replied, "Live and in the flesh. I could hardly believe it myself."

"How...?"

"Well, started off when we ran into each other, literally, then he noticed my little... device, which you know about, but I won't discuss here, and we hit it off talking about time travel. Next thing I know, he tells me he escaped their community to find his time machine! He's been here before, Rose!" Jack lowered his voice as he spoke. 

Rose was rendered speechless. She didn't know what to say. What was she supposed to say in response to this? A million options ran through her head, but none of them seemed quite right. "He's been here before?" She repeated. 

The Captain gave her a nod, "Yep, he used to travel the universe with humans," he told her, "Seemed to be a bit of a rogue element. A very attractive rogue element, though."

Rose laughed, "Jack!" She exclaimed, lightly tapping his arm, then she leaned in, "How attractive?"

Jack waggled his eyebrows, "Very," he said, "Kind of reminded me of your time lord. Kind of tall, pretty thin, and wow... that hair..."

The blonde laughed again as she casually folded another pair of jeans, "What are the odds it's the same man?" She asked, "Pretty slim, yeah? There's six hundred time lords, so there's bound to be more than one attractive tall man with great hair."

Jack nodded, "Yeah, guess so," he replied scratching his head, "I'll tell you what, though. We'll find out next week."

She gave him a confused look, "Why?" She asked, "What's happening next week?"

Her new friend gave her a cheeky grin, "I got him to come to the 'school dance' with us," he said, living for the smile that was forming on her face, "As our... date of sorts... at least... that's what I tried to go for."

Rose made a choking noise, "So we're going to the integration ceremony with an alien?" She asked, dropping the trousers she was folding. 

"Oh yeah," he quirked his eyebrows at her, "We're going on a date with an alien."

Rose looked so excited, Jack thought she was going to explode. "That's brilliant!" She exclaimed. 

"That's what he said," Jack confessed, "Looks like you two are going to get along."

The blonde grinned her tongue in teeth grin at him, then she looked around, "Well, captain, seems to me that if we're going to be in the company of time lords, we should be properly dressed, yeah?" 

He nodded, "I suppose so, Rose," he replied, leaning on the denim display, "What do you have in mind?"

Rose looked around, then tugged his hand, and led him over to the formal wear section, "How... formal is this event?" She asked, "Is it the Oscars, or someone's sweet sixteen?"

Jack laughed, "Well, as far as I know, the officials putting it together simply said to 'dress nice,' so I don't think I need a tux," he told her, "I'll probably just wear this. You on the other hand... what's in your closet, Rose Tyler?"

She scoffed, "You've only known me for a week and already you're asking me what's in my closet," she mumbled under her breath, "How forward of you."

He grinned, then he led her away from the men's formal wear section. The captain led Rose up a flight of stairs to the store's second story, and towards the women's section. Despite Rose's protests that she'd get caught not working, he pressed on, determined to help his friend. 

"Jack, if I get caught, I'll get fired," she protested as he brought her closer and closer. 

"Rose, if you get caught, I'll just say I'm shopping for my girlfriend and needed your help."

She shrugged, then followed him willingly. 

The two of them reached it in a few seconds, and immediately Jack shifted through the racks. He pulled out a skimpy black dress, and waggled his eyebrows at her. "Now this," he said, "This will look fantastic."

Rose giggled, "You're just saying that so you have an excuse to check me out, you flirt," she teased. 

He tilted his head in her direction, "You've got me," he replied, putting the scandalous dress back on the rack, "But we are shopping for you, right now... so... I don't suppose you'd want to take over?"

"Right, sorry," she mumbled, stepping forward and joining him in his task of pouring through the racks. 

The two spent a good ten minutes browsing their options, before she decided she had far too many dresses in her arms, and headed for a dressing room. 

Jack waited patiently outside as she tried on each dress, and offered his opinion on each one. 

The first dress was a sleek navy blue one with short sleeves, and a neckline that showed off an excessive amount of cleavage. Jack didn't even bother to hide the fact that he was checking her out as she stepped out of the dressing room. He even threw in a wolf whistle. She rolled her eyes at him, and stepped back inside. 

Dresses two and three were the same dress, but in different colors. One was in a bright shade of orange that truly didn't suit Rose, and the other was a deep purple that she wasn't a fan of either. It didn't help that they both had awkward ruffles on the stomach that had Rose feeling self conscious. 

The fourth had Jack doing a double take, and they were both certain it would've been the one, except for the fact that it had a tear in the sleeve. Other than that, it was the perfect Grecian style dress. 

"Almost makes you look like that Fortuna statue in the museum, Rose," Jack commented. 

Rose scoffed, "Now you're just saying things," she replied before stepping back in, "And I really should be getting back to work." 

As soon as she closed the door Jack walked up to it so she could hear him better, "How about one more, and then we call it a day?" He asked. 

"Sounds fair, I'm gonna go for that pink one."

"Yeah, pink's your color."

He waited for another moment before Rose stepped out in a pink, fifties style dress with sequins on the bodice. The skirt flared out perfectly, and twirled beautifully whenever Rose spun. This was the one. He knew it. She knew it. The entire world knew it. 

"Rose, you look amazing," Jack breathed, "Of course, you looked amazing in that dark blue one, too, but..."

Rose glared at him, then stared at herself in a full-length mirror, "Shut it, you," she muttered, "Think this is it?"

He nodded, "Oh yeah, that's it."

She turned a few more times, enjoying the feeling of the skirt as it spun around her. It was the right dress, yet something was still wrong. Something was missing. She couldn't quite put her finger on it. 

"Jack..." she said, "I think something's off, still. Like it's missing something."

The Captain looked over at her, confused. How could something be off about that dress? It was beautiful, and it looked even better on her. Yet, he understood where she was coming from. The dress on its own was impressive, but it still needed something more. 

He looked around the store for a moment, eyes searching intently for the missing piece. He was certain it was in there. It didn't take him long to find the blue, leather jacket with the flower brooch. 

It was being worn by a mannequin. Paired with an otherwise casual outfit, the jacket stuck out, and somehow, he knew that was it. The missing piece. 

“Rose, check this out,” he said, walking over to the display. He searched the rack beneath it, and found a jacket in what he suspected was Rose’s size before walking back over to her, and presenting the jacket. 

She looked it over, and he could tell she was thinking the exact same thing he was. This was it. This was what would complete the night’s look. 

Rose threw the jacket on over the dress, and zipped it up halfway, smiling at herself in the mirror. “Now that’s more like it,” she said to her reflection, giving the dress a few more twirls before sighing, “This is it, but I’ve got to get back to work now. Someone had to have noticed I’m gone.”

Jack gave her a weak smile, “Ah, well, Rosie, I’ll be waiting outside for you when you’re done,” he told her, “Walk you back home.”

She returned the smile as she walked into the dressing room, “You don’t have to, you know,” she said, “my mate Mickey usually meets me outside after work. Not sure if he will tonight, though.”

“Why not?”

“Cause he’s mad at me for supporting the time lords so much. Claims that’s all I talk about these days. I know for a fact that we had a conversation that had nothing to do with them just yesterday.”

“What’d you talk about?”

“… It was just the required, ‘hi, how’s your day been’s.”

“That doesn’t count, Rose.”

“No, I suppose not,” she replied as she stepped out of the dressing room in her work clothes, all of the dresses she’d just tried on in her hands, “Guess you can walk home with me tonight, but don’t flirt with my mum.”

“No promises.”

“Jack!”

One week later…

Rose stood in front of the mirror, gazing at her reflection. She hadn’t normally thought of herself as particularly beautiful, but this night, she was definitely giving herself a double take. She was certain that Jack and their new time lord friend would too. She’d been looking forward to this ever since Jack had announced it was happening. She’d only been more excited when he told her that they had a time lord as their date. 

She looked at the clock by her bed, and sighed. The “school dance,” as Jack had been calling it was going to be underway in ten minutes, and Jack wasn’t there yet. Considering the fact that he could travel in time, she found this hard to believe, and was bordering on being genuinely worried for him, when suddenly, Jack appeared before her in a blur of darkness, wearing his usual world war two ensemble.

The blonde yelped, and took a step back in fright, then relaxed when she realized it was him. “You bastard,” she muttered, shaking her head at him, “You scared me half to death!”

He only laughed, “Sorry, blondie,” he replied, “Ready to go?”

She cocked her head to the side, “We’re going to be late.”

Jack shrugged, “Not if we use this,” he told her, pointing to his wrist.

Rose thought for a moment. She’d never thought about actually traveling through time and space herself. Sure, the time lords and their presence on this planet put thoughts in her head about time travel, but nothing like her involvement in anything like that. 

Hesitantly, she walked towards Jack, “You sure that’s safe?” she asked, “Two people… One vortex manipulator thing?”

The captain gave her a nod, “Affirmative,” he replied, holding out his hand. 

His blonde friend took it, and a few seconds later, Jack fed the vortex manipulator the coordinates to the ceremony, and they were off. 

Their shaky arrival occurred a few hundred yards ahead of the community. Rose immediately keeled over from dizziness, and Jack barely caught her in time before she hit the ground. The two of them had a laugh about it as they looked out towards the time lords’ prison. 

On this night, though, it didn’t look like a prison. It looked like the group of hotels it had originally been before their arrival. Except, there were party lights strung about, and there were guards at the entrance to the gate, letting people in selectively. Anyone who looked like they were there to cause trouble was turned away at the gate. Rose and Jack witnessed this quite a few times as they approached the community. 

There was a tense atmosphere rising up from the compound. Apparently, despite the seemingly high attendance of the ceremony, people still felt very uneasy around the time lords. Rose couldn’t understand why. They were just people from another planet. They didn’t want to hurt the humans. She wished that they’d get that through their thick heads. 

“First door on your left,” a guard told them as they walked inside. 

They didn’t have to go much further before they found the door, and walked inside. 

Inside the hotel was a large ballroom of sorts, with soft golden lights, and several spotlights pointing towards a stage, where a DJ was playing a few songs with a slow tempo. Many people were dancing a quiet waltz, all of them seeming to point their heads away from the far side of the room. 

Rose’s eyebrows furrowed together as she pondered why, until she spotted them on the far side of the room. The time lords were all standing awkwardly together on the other side of the room. They all looked incredibly uneasy as they watched the humans mill about the place. She couldn’t blame them. They were surrounded by the species that was essentially their captors. They probably regretted coming to Earth. She was certain they wouldn’t have if they’d known they’d be treated this way. They probably would’ve given Mars and all its lifeless glory a try. 

She frowned, and tugged on Jack’s arm, “They’re all so frightened,” she observed, looking out at the time lords, “You sure your friend will be here?”

Jack nodded, “Yeah, he’ll be here, he said he would be,” he replied, “We seemed to hit it off well enough… I’m sure not even some bitter humans could scare him off. Besides, he used to travel with humans. He’s used to us.”

Rose smiled up at him, “Alright then,” she breathed, “Do you want to dance?” 

The captain held out his hand, “I was afraid you’d never ask,” he replied sarcastically, leading her out onto the dance floor as soon as she took it. 

The two of them engaged in a somewhat awkward waltz. Awkward because Rose hadn’t ever danced the waltz, and she was too busy worrying about making the other species in the room comfortable. Jack tried to teach her, but she wound up tripping on his feet too much, and they both wound up laughing too hard, so they just stood there swaying instead. 

“You know what also might be a good idea?” Rose asked, waiting until Jack was looking her in the eyes to continue, “what if we invited a few of them onto the dance floor, showed them that not all humans are awful, we could get them to loosen up. Make this a bit less awkward.”

Jack thought for a moment, then he nodded, “Hold that thought,” he told Rose before he ran over to the time lord side, and scanned the faces of the crowd. He didn’t see the Doctor’s face anywhere, but he could’ve still been on his way. In the meantime, Jack settled on a tall Asian looking woman with sharp cheekbones and a shy smile on her face.  
He held out his hand, “Captain Jack Harkness,” he told her, “Want to show me your moves?” he asked flirtaciously.

The time lady blushed, but she took his hand, and soon Jack and the time lady were waltzing smoothly across the dance floor, earning them many stares from both species. Every eye in the room was on Jack and his friend, and Rose found herself cheering them on. 

“Whoo! Go Jack!” she cried, laughing as Jack dipped the woman in his arms, and a shocked expression appeared on her face. She then noticed that people were staring at her for cheering, and she frowned, “What are you lot staring at me for? This is a celebration, you should be dancing! Dance!”

Suddenly the music took on a faster tempo, and Rose jumped out into the dance floor, not even taking a partner with her, just twirling, and moving about in the hopes that she was leading by example, and the other humans and the time lords would follow her. Mercifully, they did, and soon enough the two species were dancing together—though on separate sides of the room—and everyone seemed to be genuinely having a good time. The awkward atmosphere, though still present, was dissipating, and it was giving way to one of true glee. 

Rose laughed as she passed Jack, who spun her around, and took her on as his partner, leaving the time lady in the hands of another alien woman, who blushed as soon as their hands touched. The blonde didn’t observe any further actions between them, since Jack was keeping her preoccupied with all sorts of moves she didn’t even know he had. 

“Having fun yet, Rose?” he asked, dipping her. 

“Whoo!” she cried as he pulled her back up, “Oh, yes!” She laughed with glee as they continued moving about the room.

“It’s about to get even better!” Jack announced, pulling her in, then spinning her outwards and away from him… And directly into someone else. 

“Oof!” Rose coughed out as she roughly slammed into the tall stranger. 

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” a familiar voice said, stepping back from her, and checking to see if she was alright. 

“You okay?” she asked, as she brushed off her skirt. There wasn’t even any dirt on it, but she did it anyway. 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” the stranger replied, “I’m brilliant. Are you okay?”

Rose nodded, “Yeah, I’m great,” she told him, looking up into his face, “I’m…” Realization dawned on both of their faces at the same time. 

She knew that face. That slim face, those brown eyes, that great hair, that slim figure… That was the Doctor. The time lord she’d tried to help that very first night that they crashed. He was there, standing before her. It was like a dream of sorts. She couldn’t believe this was happening. He was just one in six hundred time lords. What were the odds of them meeting twice? Much less like this.

Rose’s heart raced as she took in his appearance. Last time they’d met, he’d been wearing what she assumed was traditional Gallifreyan clothing, but this time… This time he was dressed in a brown pinstriped suit, and a tie with matching colors, and sandy colored chucks on his feet. He looked like a slightly eccentrically dressed human. But it somehow suited him, and she admitted to herself that he looked very attractive. Jack was right, she was definitely into aliens. 

“Doctor,” she breathed, “It’s you!”

“Rose Tyler,” he replied, a smile developing on his face.

“Hi,” she said shyly, brushing a piece of her hair out of her face. 

“Hello,” he replied.

Rose grinned at him, then looked around them. Jack was nowhere to be found. He’d spun her about and abandoned her. She shook her head, then looked back at the Doctor, “Do you want to dance?” she asked, “Can’t help but notice that we’re just standing in the middle of the dance floor. We’re blocking traffic.”

The time lord laughed, “Quite right,” he replied, taking her hand, and leading her into a dance. 

The blonde smiled her tongue in teeth smile as they moved smoothly about the room. None of her earlier dance struggles with Jack seemed to be present. Somehow, with the Doctor, she knew exactly which moves to make. It also helped that her time dancing around the room had given her a bit more practice. “So, Doctor,” she started, “What have you gotten up to? Since we last saw each other, that is.”

He looked up, as if he were thinking carefully about his response, “Well,” he replied, “I’ve been… busy to say the least.”

The Doctor spun Rose around before she answered with another question, “Busy doing what?” she asked, “I mean, there can’t be that much to do around here. You must be bored out of your mind.”

He shook his head, “Nah, it’s not so bad,” he replied, but there was something in his eyes that told her he was lying, and she moved just a little bit closer. 

“Doctor, are you sure you’re alright?” she asked, genuine concern showing through on her face, “If you’re not safe here…”

The time lord frowned, “No, I’m safe, I promise. You don’t have to worry about me.”

“Course I’m going to worry. I’ve been worried about you since the night we met. It’s practically my second job to worry about you,” she said, laughing at the end of her statement. 

The Doctor grinned, “Suppose so.”

The time lord then spun her around, then smoothly dipped her so low, she was certain her head was going to hit the floor. But her new dance partner seemed to know better than that, and he brought her up just as smoothly as she went down, and by the end of it, their faces were inches apart, and they were both smiling. 

“Whoa,” Rose breathed, looking at him in disbelief, “Where the hell’d you learn to dance like that?”

He shrugged, “This isn’t the first time I’ve been to Earth,” he confessed, “I’ve picked up a few tricks over the years. Like this.” The time lord then placed his hands on Rose’s waist, and performed some sort of mildly complicated lift that she wasn’t paying attention to. 

Rose was too busy realizing what he’d just said. Jack had mentioned that his tall, slim stranger with great hair had also been to Earth a number of times. The odds that this was the same man were multiplied by eleven. Her heart raced. It seemed that she’d found her and Jack’s date. 

“Have you… Have you met Captain Jack Harkness?” Rose asked suddenly. 

They stopped dancing, and the Doctor stared at her in shock, “You’ve met the captain?” He asked in disbelief. 

“Yeah, I have,” she admitted, “He’s my friend. He mentioned meeting you earlier, cause I told him my story about how I met you that first night… Apparently you’re our date tonight.”

The Doctor laughed, “Ah, I see,” he told her, “But if you don’t mind, I think our date should third wheel for a little while.”

Rose raised an eyebrow, “I don’t mind at all,” she replied cheekily, observing that their faces were still mere inches apart. 

The time lord grinned at her as he placed his hand at her waist once again, and they resumed their dance. They danced like that for a little while, the Doctor occasionally spinning her around, and definitely showing off as they whirled about the room. 

They didn’t speak for a while. The two seemed perfectly content with dancing and staring into each other’s eyes. A silent conversation seemed to float in the air between them, which seemed to be decreasing as their bodies drew closer and closer to one another as they moved. By the time either of them spoke again, they were pressed against one another. 

“Why did you help us that night?” the Doctor asked her after a while, looking down at her curiously. 

She sighed, “It felt like the right thing to do,” she told him, “I saw the crash, the fire, and I just knew you lot were in trouble, so I ran out there.” She gave him a light hearted laugh, “You should’ve seen my mum, she was about to murder me when I got back. Kept going on and on about how you lot could be cold blooded killers for all I knew. But… Meeting you… I instantly just knew that I could trust you. There was something in your eyes.”

“There was something in yours, too,” he replied softly, “I knew I could trust you.”

Rose smiled at him, “Feeling’s mutual, then.”

He leaned in a little closer to her, “That’s brilliant,” he murmured, “Molto bene.”

She laughed, “Is that Italian?” 

“Um, yeah, yeah, it is,” he responded, taking one of his hands, and running it through his hair before placing it back on her waist, “Molto bene,” he repeated. 

“You’re so… out there,” Rose commented, “Good out there, not bad out there. Trust me, very good out there.”

The Doctor laughed, then he opened his mouth to say something else, but then promptly closed it. “I can’t think of what to say,” he confessed with a light chuckle. 

“Neither can I,” she admitted as they continued to dance. 

The distance between them was smaller than it had ever been, and Rose noticed that the two of them had begun to lean in. This was going to happen. She was about to kiss a time lord. The first human and time lord kiss was about to be hers. 

She moved closer and closer to him, their lips almost touching, her heart pounding faster than it ever had, when suddenly—

“Doctor, what the hell are you doing?” a voice cried out.


	4. Tonight

Rose and the Doctor shot away from each other, taking an entire step back as their dance was abruptly cut short. The human's eyes searched the crowd for the voice that had just called out her dance partner's name, and landed on a sandy haired man with a cold look in his eyes, and his arms crossed. He looked sternly at them as they stepped further away from each other. 

"Are you out of your mind?" The other man, who was presumably a time lord, asked. The man took a step towards the Doctor, his eyes darting between the other Gallifreyan's as he took in the situation. 

The Doctor looked at him in shock, "Listen, I—"

He stopped talking when he noticed that the entire room had gone silent, and was now staring at the three of them. Apparently the stranger standing before them wasn't the only one who noticed what had almost happened between the Doctor and Rose. 

Rose looked around the room, and felt her heart begin to race faster than it had a moment earlier when she'd nearly kissed the time lord standing beside her. She wasn't used to being stared at like this, and it was incredibly unnerving. She took in a deep breath, and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Captain Jack Harkness weaving his way towards them through the crowd. 

"Doctor, she's a bloody human," the sandy haired man continued, seeming to not care about the hundreds of eyes in the room that were trained on them. 

The Doctor ran a hand through his hair, but said nothing as Jack Harkness finally reached them. The captain gave him a nod before he turned to the sandy-haired time lord, "Is there a problem here?" He asked kindly. 

The unnamed time lord scoffed, then looked between the Doctor and Rose again, "Is there a problem?" He asked, "Yes, there's a bloody problem! They're..."

"Just having a dance?" Jack offered, watching the time lord stammer awkwardly before he added, "Now, handsome, if you don't mind, I'm going to say hello to my friend here," he turned to the Doctor, "Hello, Doctor."

It took a moment for the time lord to find his voice, "Captain," he replied confidently, "Having fun?"

“Oh yes,” the captain replied, “My kind of place. I see you met our date.”

Rose blushed, “We ran into each other when you abandoned me.”

“I did no such thing, Rose Tyler,” he protested, “As soon as you spun away from me I saw this guy, and an opportunity I couldn’t miss.”

The Doctor found himself snickering as the two spoke, “So that’s how you wound up with me?” he asked. 

“Yep, because we have a rude date,” Rose replied. 

“I’m not rude.”

“You’ve been dancing with half the room,” the Doctor protested. 

"Yeah, yeah, been dancing, with a lot of your people actually..." he told his friend, "At this, the integration ceremony. The thing that's supposed to bring us together for the first time as you lot take your place in our society. The first place where you'd probably be allowed to make out with a human if you wanted to." Jack tossed a side glance at the cock blocking time lord standing off to the side. 

That same cock blocking time lord shook his head, and stepped between the three of them, "Talking, fine, dancing, fine, but... fraternizing?" he all but squeaked out the last word, "It's wrong, and I think you should leave," he said to Rose. 

She looked taken aback. Was the man serious? Who the hell did he think he was forcing her out of a party for a kiss that didn't even happen? Infuriated, Rose turned on him, "Just what authority do you think you have to make that happen?" She asked. 

He smirked, "Security!" He cried, and within seconds, the trio of forbidden friends was surrounded by the security personnel, hands on their hips. 

Rose looked at them, a sense of fear beginning to settle in, "You can't be serious," she protested, "I haven't even done anything!" 

The Doctor stepped forward, "She's telling the truth, it was all me," he lied. 

The blonde's mouth hung open, wondering why the hell he was doing this. The subtext of their earlier conversation seemed to indicate that something was awry behind the gates of the community. The thing he was attempting to do right then would very likely have harsh consequences. She couldn't let him face punishment for something that had been her fault, too, "No, that's not true," she insisted, "It was me, I was curious, see, about the time lords. You lot just look so similar to humans, and well," she gave the Doctor a brief up-and-down glance, "I've got eyes," she added cheekily. 

Jack snickered beside her, and the three of them waited for a tense moment while the security personnel looked between them, deciding who to believe. It was looking more and more like they were leaning towards placing the blame on the Doctor. Of course they would. Prejudice was alive and well in the twenty first century.

Rose knew that there was nothing she could do to stop them, so she let out an awkward laugh, "Okay, then," she said, "If you lot won't believe me, I'll just show myself out, make this a bit easier on everyone." She turned to the Doctor and gave him a kind smile, which he returned, before she turned to face the security workers. 

They made a path for her, and she slowly made her way to the exit, trying not to let her fear show in front of the hundreds of eyes staring at her. She was just starting to feel her poker face slipping away, when suddenly Jack appeared beside her, "What are you doing?" She asked, stopping them both in their tracks, "Stay, enjoy the rest of the party."

He shook his head, "No, I can't," he replied. 

She sighed, "Jack, it's fine," she insisted, "I know how to get home from here. Besides, I don't think you ever got to spend time with our date."

The captain looked back at the Doctor, and gave him a sad smile before he looked back at Rose, "At this point in the night, I don't think I'd be allowed to," he admitted, offering Rose his arm, "Come on, Rose, let's get out of here."

Rose nodded, taking his arm, and glancing back at the Doctor one last time, taking in the sorrowful look in his eyes, and giving him a small wave before she turned back towards the exit, and left with Jack. 

The two awkwardly walked out, and just mere seconds after the door shut behind them, they heard the music start back up again. Rose wasn't even sure when it had stopped. 

They walked in silence for a moment before Jack glanced down at Rose, "So... you aren't into aliens, huh?" He asked cheekily. 

She scoffed, "Shut up," she replied. 

"I mean, they look so similar to humans, and you've got eyes," Jack teased, throwing her own words back at her. 

Rose rolled her eyes, "That was because I wanted to place the blame for this on me," she told him, "When we were talking I got this vibe that there's something going on back there. I don't think their human guards are treating them particularly well, and I just got this..."

"This... what?"

"I don't know... this feeling that if he took the blame for what happened, they'd do something to him. I saw it in their eyes. They weren't about to give him a gift basket."

Jack nodded, "No, they weren’t, he mentioned something to me too when I met him," he replied as they continued walking, "There’s something not right going on in there,” there was a moment of silence before he asked her, “You want to take the short way home?"

"Yes," she breathed as they stopped walking. Then Jack put the coordinates into his vortex manipulator, and not a minute later they were back in Rose's bedroom.

Rose felt the dizziness wash over her once again, and she placed a hand out in front of her as she collapsed onto her bed with a sigh. 

“You alright, Rose?” Jack asked from behind her. 

She slowly sat up, and gave him a nod, “Yeah, I’m fine,” she replied honestly, “It’s just, that thing… It makes me dizzy.”

Jack chuckled lightly, “Ah, capsule-less time travel,” he said, “Not for the faint of heart.”

“Oi!”

“I’m teasing, Rose, but it does take some getting used to.”

“Oh, okay.”

Jack laughed one more time before he looked at her again, “Well, I’d say that concludes our evening together, Rose Tyler, unless your bed doesn’t mind another occupant.”

She grinned, but gently swatted at his arm, “Jack!” she protested.

“I know, I know,” he replied cheekily, “Don’t worry, I’m leaving.”

With that, Jack Harkness entered in more coordinates into his vortex manipulator, and with one last wink at Rose, he was gone. She was once again alone. 

Rose flopped back on her bed, and took in a deep breath as she glanced over at the clock. It was nearly midnight, and she was fairly certain that she hadn’t been gone for five hours. Jack must’ve gotten his timing off. She shook her head, and stared up at the ceiling, taking in all of the things that had happened in the past few hours. 

She’d danced with a time lord, and nearly kissed him, causing a scene. All she could do was wonder what would’ve happened if they hadn’t been interrupted. What if the Doctor’s sandy-haired friend hadn’t caught them in the act? Would they still have kissed? Would she still be dancing with him? She could only wonder. 

A smile grew on her face as she thought about everything they’d said to each other. The level of trust they had, and the connection they shared. It was unlike anything she’d ever experienced before. She was certain of it. 

Pushing herself off of the bed, she decided to put further thoughts of the Doctor and their dance aside until she had gotten herself out of her party clothes and into pajamas. She stood up, and unzipped the jacket she’d worn, then kicked off her high heeled shoes, and undid the hair pins that were holding her updo in place.

As she shimmied off the jacket, she heard an odd, screeching noise coming from the area outside of her building. She tossed the jacket aside, and peered out her window into the fields where the crash had occurred. There was nothing there, except for a few cardboard boxes, and an odd blue one with “Police Public Call Box,” written across the top of it. 

Rose’s eyebrows furrowed, that hadn’t been there before. She was almost certain. Rose grabbed her shoes, and hurriedly put them back on before she quietly snuck out of her flat, and dashed down the stairs to go and investigate the fields. 

It didn’t take her long to reach the bottom, and she hurriedly pushed open the door leading to the outside, curious to see what was up with the police box. She was immediately hit by the cold air, and she shivered, reaching her arms up to comfort herself as she walked out, wishing she’d brought her damn jacket. 

She looked around, her eyes instantly landing on the new box, and the man leaning against it. It was the Doctor, still wearing his ensemble from earlier, and a smile on his face. “Rose Tyler,” he said as she approached, “Guess I found the right place, then.”

“Doctor,” she breathed, momentarily forgetting how cold she was as she approached him, “How did you…?” 

“Didn’t Jack tell you I escaped before?” he asked cheekily as she got closer and closer to him, “I figured I could do it again.”

Rose lightheartedly laughed, “But, how?” she asked in response, “Is it the box?”

He gave her a nod, “Mmhmm,” he replied, “This is the Tardis, she’s my ship. Well, she was before we came here. We used to travel in time and space together.”

Rose could hardly believe what he was saying, but as she looked into his eyes, she could tell that everything he was saying was the truth. “Wow,” she managed to say, “But why a police box of all things to travel in? You could’ve had something like…”

“Something like what?” 

“I dunno… Something… not like a police box.”

They both laughed as Rose finally reached him, standing a mere two feet away. She watched as his eyes took in the sight of her, jacketless, hair down, and shivering. “Are you cold?” he asked curiously. 

She shook her head, “No, I’m fine,” she lied with a smile on her face, “Don’t worry.”

He raised an eyebrow, and shifted his arms so he could take off the trench coat he was wearing, “Ooh,” he breathed, “It is a bit chilly, even to me,” he confessed, handing Rose his jacket. 

“Wait, you don’t have to—” she protested, but he was already draping it over her shoulders with a smile. She sighed as his hands pulled away, “Thanks.”

“Well, it was the least I could do after what you did for me,” he told her, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry for what happened, it was my fault.”

Rose looked at him confusedly, wondering why he genuinely thought it was his fault. She’d leaned in, too. They had both slowly drifted closer and closer until there wasn’t any space between them. It wasn’t just him, and it wasn’t just her. 

“No, it was my fault just as much as it was yours,” she responded, “I wanted to kiss you, too.”

He froze, seeming to not expect that response, and ran his hand through his hair. She could see a blush rising to his cheeks, and a shy grin part his lips. “Yeah, suppose you did,” he mumbled quietly, “That’s brilliant.”

She smiled, then she stepped forward, allowing herself to get closer to him until they were once again almost touching. “Molto bene,” she added, slightly butchering the pronunciation of the words. 

They both giggled a little at the reference, then Rose reached out, and took one of his hands in hers, swinging it left and right, “So, this time machine of yours…” she began, “Could I…?”

The Doctor raised an eyebrow, but there was a mischievous smile on his face that said yes before he actually uttered the words, “Oh, yes.” He then let go of her hand, and turned away from her, reaching into the pocket of his suit jacket, and pulling out a key. The time lord then inserted it into the lock, and pushed the door open, allowing a green light to dimly shine on the field surrounding them, “Go on,” he urged her, “Have a look.”

She met his eyes one last time, wondering what secret he was showing her, then she stepped through the door, and her mouth fell open. The size of the inside was enormously bigger than that of the outside, and it was impossible, “It’s not...” she uttered out, then she stepped out of the ship, and ran around it, seeing that the police box did indeed look like a police box from the outside before she ran back in, “It is!” She ran back out, and grabbed a hold of his arms excitedly, “It’s bigger on the inside.”

He giggled, “I know!” he exclaimed, “Isn’t that brilliant? Oh, the look on your faces, never gets old.”

Rose frowned, “You’ve shown people this before?”

“Yeah, I used to travel with humans before the war,” he confessed, “They said the same things every time, always ‘bigger on the inside.’ Nice bit of time lord technology, eh?” He patted the ship’s door. 

She grinned, “It’s as out there as you are,” she replied, then she saw the slightly disappointed look on his face, “A good out there, I promise.”

The Doctor returned her grin, and held out his hand, wiggling his fingers for a second before she took it, and he led her into the ship. This time, Rose truly took in the room she’d entered. The room was bathed in a soft, green light, and had coral-esque designs, with some sort of alien looking console in the middle. Perfectly fitting for the time lord holding her hand. 

“This is the console,” he explained, “All the flying—well, she doesn’t really do much actual flying, per se—happens here. All of time and space, anywhere, anywhen you could possibly want to go…” he reached out a hand and turned on another, more golden toned light, “I can do it from here.”

Rose laughed in delight as she took in the room, “This is… Wow…” she breathed, searching for the right word to use, “This is…” she looked up at him, “It’s fantastic.”

The Doctor squeezed her hand, “And it’s not just good for that, either,” he replied, letting go of Rose, and racing over to a monitor. The time lord quickly typed something in, then he walked back over to her, and held out his hand, “Since we were interrupted earlier… May I have this dance?” He asked. 

Rose raised an eyebrow, “But there’s no music…” she protested, just as the first few notes of the song they’d been dancing to during their almost-kiss began to play. It was an old song from the forties, Rose thought she’d recognized it as Moonlight Serenade, but she was too distracted to remember. She reached up, and took the jacket off of her shoulders, tossing it on the captain’s bench before she took his hand, “You may,” she told him as he pulled her into a dance. 

The two of them resumed the dance they’d begun earlier; though this time they started off much closer than they had initially. Once again, they were perhaps a little too close to one another as they moved throughout the console room. 

Rose’s heart raced for the third time that night, and she tried not to falter in her steps as they waltzed smoothly throughout the room. “Do you do this for all the girls?” she teased, attempting to distract herself from how nervous she was. 

He laughed, “No, so far it’s just you,” he replied in the same teasing tone. The time lord then led her into a spin, and dipped her as he pulled her back in. 

She let out a delighted squeal as she came back up, “You’ve got to stop scaring me like that,” she breathed, “Not that I mind it much.”

“You don’t?”

“Nah, it’s actually sort of fun.”

“Then you won’t mind if I do it again, will you?”  
“What—whoa!”

The Doctor repeated his earlier motion, and he spun her out, but instead of dipping her, he spun her right back into his arms. This time they were inches apart as they continued their dance, all but able to hear each other’s hearts beating as the tension built in the air around them. 

“I think something else was interrupted earlier, too,” Rose whispered, glancing up into his eyes. 

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Rose then grabbed the lapels of his jacket, and pulled his lips to hers. She grinned into the kiss as she felt him respond, and his hands wrapped around her waist, one of them holding her upper back as he deepened the kiss. Her hands slid up, away from his jacket lapels, and found his shoulders, using them as a hold as she stood on the tips of her toes to reach him. 

Their first kiss ended as she slowly pulled away, but left her hands on his chest as she tried to gauge what he was thinking. 

He didn’t open his eyes until he felt every last trace of her absent from his lips, and he looked down at her hopeful gaze with a smile, “Quite right,” he replied, letting a small giggle escape him as he let his hand caress her cheek. 

Rose leaned into the touch, and took in a deep breath, “Well, I’d like to see your friend react to that,” she said sarcastically. 

The Doctor shook his head, and brought her back into a dance, “Ah, him,” he replied, “That’s the Maste—Harrold Saxon, sorry. Still getting used to the new names.”

Rose sighed, “You don’t have to use the names they gave you around me, or Jack,” she told him, “You never, ever have to.”

The time lord looked relieved, as if she’d taken a huge burden off of his shoulders. “Didn’t think I would,” he replied unconvincingly. 

“Liar,” she retorted as they continued to move across the console room. 

The two of them danced for a while after that, continuing until even after the music stopped, simply enjoying the feeling of being in each other’s arms. Neither of them said anything until Rose finally pulled away from him, and sighed, “I should be getting back,” she said solemnly, “My mum sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night, she’ll be wondering why I’m not home.”

“Oh, alright,” he replied, a small frown appearing on his face.

She could sense his disappointment, and she held out her hand, waiting for him to take it before she walked over to the Tardis doors, and pushed them open. Then the human girl turned to him, and reached her hand up to caress his cheek before she gently kissed him one last time, “Good night, Doctor,” she told him, a smile appearing on her face.

“Good night, Rose,” he replied, “Hold on a moment, though,” he added, running back into the ship, and grabbing his trench coat off of the captain’s bench, “Take this.” He once again draped it around her shoulders, but this time, she slid her arms through the jacket sleeves, and pulled her hair out from under it, letting it settle on her shoulders.

“Thanks,” she said, squeezing his hand one last time before she walked away from him and his ship, and back to her flat in the Powell Estate.

When Rose arrived in front of her flat, she was sure to open the door as silently as she could. She was certain that her mother wouldn’t believe she was coming home from the ceremony this late in the evening. She remembered that the ceremony was supposed to end at eleven, and when she’d left her flat to see the Doctor, it had been nearly midnight. 

Mercifully, the door made no noise as it opened, and she breathed a sigh of relief as she slipped into the flat with no effort, and quietly walked into her bedroom. She kicked off her shoes, and fell back onto her bed before she burst into a quiet fit of laughter. Six weeks earlier, she never could’ve imagined that this would be the sort of night she’d have, yet here she was, wearing a time lord’s trench coat, and still able to taste him on her lips. 

Rose grinned as she curled up on the bed, and began to fall asleep, thinking about the kiss they’d finally been able to share as she sank into her dreams.


	5. The Red Pin

The Doctor stepped out of the Tardis, and into the storage room he’d decided to keep her in. Still smiling from his night with Rose, he walked out into the hotel hallway, and checked to see if the coast was clear before proceeding to the stairwell. He gleefully climbed up the stairs as if he were dancing, the music still playing clear as day in his head. 

He couldn’t help it. He was happy. For the first time in a long time, the Doctor was happy. He was dancing down the hallway as he approached his room, and when he entered he leaned back against the door, and let himself sink to the floor, the smile still large on his face. 

The time lord tilted his head back, and sighed joyfully. His first night with the humans, though it had its rougher moments, was undoubtedly one of the best of his life. He was suddenly looking forward to the future he had on Earth. He suddenly felt as though it was full of possibilities. Friends, a lover, his Tardis, and all of time and space were his. It left him feeling unstoppable. 

At least, it did until someone else in the room cleared their throat, snapping him out of his happy daze. The Doctor stood up quick as a bullet, and walked into the room to find the Master sitting on his bed waiting patiently for him to return. 

“What the hell are you doing here?” he asked his old friend, “And more importantly, how did you get in?”

The Master held up his sonic screwdriver, and the Doctor did a quick search of his pockets to reveal that the object was indeed missing. He must’ve dropped it at the dance. “Oh,” the Doctor breathed, “What do you want?”

His old friend sighed, and stood up, facing the Doctor, “What the hell were you thinking?” he asked, “All of this,” he gestured to their surroundings, “We’re barely getting along with the humans as is, and you’ve got to pull that stunt?”

“I wasn’t thinking,” the Doctor replied honestly, “But I’m not sorry for what happened. Way I see it, it’s just proof that integrating our species is the right thing to do. I think we’re all ready for it.”

“Have you already forgotten what they did to us before they sealed the gates on the community?”

“No, I haven’t, but it’s been weeks, they’ve had time to adjust.”

“Always the optimist, aren’t you, Doctor?” the Master asked bitterly, crossing his arms as he began to pace around the other time lord, “Never thinking realistically, always hoping, never certain. It’s a wonder you ever bested me.”

The Doctor shook his head, “I’d thought we’d moved on from that,” he stated, not looking at the Master. 

The Master chuckled, “Only because of the war,” he replied, “I seem to recall that you had the most opposition to the time lords resurrecting me. Hurtful, considering I’m your oldest friend.”

“I don’t think you’ve been my friend for a very long time,” the Doctor replied solemnly, then he swiftly moved to change the subject, “Anyway, I stand by my decisions, and the actions I made tonight. And if we’re being quite honest, everything would’ve been fine if…” he found himself unable to finish the sentence, unable to blame someone else for the rubbish situation at the dance. 

“If I hadn’t shouted at you?” the Master asked in response, “Perhaps, but it was your actions that led me to do so.”

The Doctor’s eyes rolled, but he didn’t look at the Master, “You’re perfectly capable of keeping quiet,” he muttered, “You didn’t have to do that. Did you even think of what would happen to her?”

“I’m not concerned with what happens to the humans,” the Master confessed, “And you shouldn’t be either. We’ve got only six hundred of us left. We should be caring for each other for the survival of our species, not the humans.”

The Doctor’s mouth hung open as he found himself at a loss for words. Though he didn’t agree with the other time lord, he could feel how powerfully his frenemy believed these words, and it concerned him. If either species was convinced that they mattered more than the other, how could they ever hope to live in peace?

“I’d best get going,” the Master said, walking towards the door, “I hope you’ll consider my advice.”

As the Master closed his door behind him, the Doctor had only one thought in his head. He most certainly would not be considering his friend’s advice. 

When he could hear footsteps retreating down the hallway, the Doctor walked over to his bed, and flopped down on it before kicking off his converse, and staring up at the ceiling to take in the events of the day.

He wasn’t sure when he fell asleep, even using his time senses he couldn’t be sure. It must’ve been one of those rare times when he was so distracted that he lost sense of when he fell asleep. 

The only sign that he was asleep was when he realized he was dreaming. In his dreams he was still in the Tardis, dancing with Rose Tyler, and they were gliding across the console room smiling. Music was playing softly in the background as they danced, and Rose’s lighthearted laughter filled the room. It was his first nightmareless night in far too long. It had been years—no, decades since he’d slept without a nightmare. 

The Doctor woke up without sweating that morning, and with a smile spread wide on his face. He reached to throw back the sheets, but then realized that he’d fallen asleep on top of his covers, and he was still wearing his clothes from the dance. The time lord laughed at himself before he sat up, and walked over to his closet. He didn’t want the other time lords or the humans guarding them to notice that he hadn’t changed, so he looked through the few clothes they’d given him, and settled on a blue suit and maroon colored chucks. 

Five minutes later, the Doctor was finishing tying his tie, when suddenly he heard a knock at his door. “Open up,” a deep voice commanded him, and he was quick to comply upon realizing that this was a member of the guard. 

He opened the door to find his least favorite guard in front of him, the one who’d handled his assault case a week after the crashlanding. The one who had done only the bare minimum to help him in the aftermath, and had only shown him evil ever since. “Captain,” he said, putting on a false smile as he propped the door open with his foot, “What can I do for you?”

The captain seemed to look right through him, “Mr. Smith, there’s an assembly going on in the lobby of this building,” he told the Doctor plainly, “You will be required to attend before you are allowed outside the community today. Be there in five minutes or face punishment.” He turned to his guards, “Let’s move on,” he ordered them before they left the Doctor at his door. 

He looked down the hallway, and observed that other members of the guard were knocking on the Gallifreyan’s doors left and right, likely telling them the same thing the captain had just told him. Walking back into his room for a brief moment, he grabbed his sonic screwdriver, and reached into his closet to grab his trench coat, only to find that it wasn’t there. 

Confused, he turned on the closet light, and searched again before the memory came to him with a smile. He’d given Rose his coat the previous evening so she wouldn’t be cold. He could always get it back later. It gave him an excuse to see her again. 

The time lord shook his head, and put the sonic in his suit jacket pocket before he headed out into the hallway, and down towards the assembly. 

When he got there, the lobby was incredibly crowded. There were maybe two inches maximum between one person and another. They must’ve had all of the time lords in this room. All six hundred of them. He wondered what was so important that they had to gather them all like this at once. 

He didn’t have to wait long for an answer. Just moments after he arrived in the lobby, the captain and a few more members of his guard appeared on some sort of platform, visible to nearly all of the time lords in the room. 

The Doctor gulped nervously. Usually whenever they made announcements like this, it wasn’t good news. The last time they’d done it was to announce that they were keeping the species inside until further notice, and it hadn’t exactly gone well. People had protested, rushed the platform, and it had resulted in the guards pulling their guns on the time lords. By some miracle, no one had actually gotten shot, but the thought of regenerating had caused the rogue time lords to back down on their protest.

The captain stared out at all of them with a satisfied look on his face, and he raised a whistle to his lips, and blew it three times to gather the attention of everyone in the room. Six hundred pairs of eyes trained on him, and he smiled wickedly, “Good morning, aliens,” he said in greeting, “Don’t ask me to bother learning how to pronounce your planet’s name, quite frankly, I don’t care. You’re on our territory now.”

The Doctor glared at him in disgust, wondering how this man could be so insensitive to the people who’d lost their entire planet, and most of their species. They’d lost billions of people the day they’d used the moment to end the time war. Billiions. Yet the humans still believed them to be evil, horrifying creatures despite their suffering. They’d barely been given time to grieve in all that had happened. It wasn’t right. It was inhumane. 

“… Moving onto what I’ve gathered you all here for today,” the captain announced, “As you all know, this is the first day in which you’ll be allowed to move outside of the gates. This marks the first day of integration between our two species.” 

Cheers erupted throughout the room, and the Doctor found himself joining in enthusiastically. He couldn’t wait to go outside of the gates without having to sneak out. He couldn’t wait for his fellow time lords to finally be able to see Earth as he had many times before, as a free man. 

“…But before you do that, we’ve got to establish some rules,” the captain continued, and the Doctor’s lips fell into a frown, “First off, a curfew.” The crowd groaned loudly, and the captain yelled at them to keep quiet before he spoke again. 

“You are all to return behind these gates by twenty two hundred hours. It is currently ten hundred hours. Every day from now on, you’ll be free to explore earth from now, until then. By that time you must have returned to the community, or you’ll face consequences. Understood?”

There was a series of hushed whispers throughout the room, but enough nods to satisfy the captain, who smiled, “Good, now, in order to make sure you all return, we’re going to keep track of who is human, and who is time lord in public by asking you to wear these,” he told them, holding up a red, circular pin, and pinning it to the lapel of his jacket.

“They’ll identify you as time lords,” the captain announced, “We’ve already notified the public of this. Before you protest, the reasoning for this was so that our public would be better prepared in helping you adjust to your new surroundings.”

They all knew the real reason. The captain and his guard, or whoever had set up these rules, had wanted them to become targets. No one said anything, however, they just nodded their heads, and looked down in fear as the captain unpinned the pin from his jacket. 

The Doctor furrowed his eyebrows together, and he raised his hand slowly, “Excuse me, captain?” he asked.

The captain’s eyes landed on him, and his face twisted into a grimace, “Yes, Mr. Smith?” he asked in response, “Have you got an issue with the rules?”

The time lord shook his head, “No, just an observation,” he replied, “These pins you’re having us wear… They’re quite similar to the Germans forcing all the Jewish people to wear the star of David, are they not?”

The human man shrugged, “I suppose so, yes.”

“And you’re content with being compared to Nazis, sir?”

“If it keeps my people safe, yes,” the captain replied sternly, “Now, John, if you wouldn’t mind coming up to the platform, I think you should be the first to receive your pin.” He gestured to a space on the platform beside him, his grimace becoming a smile as the Doctor hung his head, and approached the stage bitterly. 

He climbed up onto the platform, and stood beside the captain, keeping his expression blank as the shorter man took the red pin, and pinned it to the lapel on the Doctor’s jacket. The Doctor tried not to wince as he felt the pin go too far, and pierce his skin. Judging by the smile on the captain’s face, that had been intentional. Swallowing nervously, he moved away from the captain as soon as the pin was properly placed on his clothing, and he stepped off stage, and resumed his place in the crowd. 

“Now for the rest of you,” the captain announced, “You may venture beyond the gates once you have a pin. Safe travels.”

The Doctor didn’t hesitate to turn on his heels and leave. He didn’t look back at the captain as he left the community, and headed out into the city, ready to find his friends. 

Half an hour later, he found himself back in the same area of Cardiff where he’d run into Jack for the first time. He walked confidently through the area as he had many times before, not noticing the stares he was getting until he was stopped by an older woman, who pointed her finger at him, and told him, “Go home, no one wants you here!”

Brushing it off, the Doctor walked down to the place by the Thames where he’d first realized that Jack was a time traveler, and he stared out at the river, the sun’s heat bearing down on his back. A light breeze blew by, and the time lord sighed. This was his life now. This was the time lord’s life now. They’d be subject to discrimination and cruelty everywhere they went. Still, he supposed it was better than them not being around at all. It was better than his original plan to end it all himself. At least he wasn’t alone this way. 

He placed his hands on the railing between the walkway, and the drop down to the river, and looked out at the water flowing below, letting it distract him from his problems. Taking in a deep breath, the Doctor then pushed himself away, and headed down the street back towards the city, finding himself surrounded by shops within minutes. The street was incredibly crowded, and the Doctor found himself feeling self conscious of the red pin on his jacket. He reached his hand up, and covered it subtly, pretending that he was holding onto the lapel of the jacket, and casually smiling at a group of teenagers who glared at him questionably. 

The Doctor only grew more nervous as he walked through the crowd, and he quickly pulled himself off to the side, leaning against a wall just outside of one of the shops, and sighing. The fear he now had walking through the streets of London saddened him. He’d always walked through here like he was welcome, as if he were human, too. This was where he’d taken refuge when the time lords had forced him to leave Gallifrey. It was like a second home to him, and currently, they were treating him like he was gum on their shoes. It hurt him deeply. 

“Doctor?” a familiar American accent called out, and he turned his head to see Captain Jack Harkness approaching him. 

“Captain!” he cried gleefully, wrapping his arms around the other man in greeting, losing the cover he’d had over his pin. 

The two men laughed in delight as they pulled away, “What are you doing here?” the captain asked, glancing up at the store name, Henrik’s, “Did she tell you where she worked?”

The Doctor cocked his head to the side in confusion, “I’m just enjoying my newfound ‘freedom,’” he replied with a hint of sarcasm in his voice, “What do you mean? Who’s she?”

Jack laughed, “Rose, Doctor,” he told him, “This is where she works. I come in to see her every day for her lunch break. We always eat together. I don’t think she’d mind you joining us.”

The Doctor almost laughed. Jack had no idea just how much Rose would enjoy it. 

As if on cue, the door to Henrik’s opened, and out came Rose Tyler, dressed in her usual pink, and wearing the Doctor’s trench coat on top. It was a bit too large for her, but at the same time, it suited her perfectly. 

She looked up at Jack first, having not spotted the Doctor just yet, “Hey, you,” she said, “Ready to go?”

Jack gave her a nod, “Yeah, but, uh, Rose?”

She raised her eyebrows curiously, “What?” she asked, still not facing the Doctor, who was leaning against the wall with a smile on his face. 

“Look behind you,” he replied. 

Rose turned around slowly, and the corners of her lips turned upwards in a smile as soon as she saw him, “Doctor!” she cried jubilantly, wrapping her arms around his neck.

He reached around, and hugged her back, laughing as he spun her around, “Hello,” he replied as he set her back down on the ground, then his eyes landed on her jacket, “That looks familiar.”

Jack seemed to notice the familiar jacket, too, and he raised an eyebrow at the two of them, “Well, well, well,” he said, “That does look familiar. You two have some explaining to do.”

Rose shook her head rapidly, “No, no, it’s not what you think,” she protested, “I swear!”

“It never is what I think, Rose,” Jack replied cheekily, “But good on you. It’s been one day of integration between our species, and you’ve already danced the horizontal mambo with a time lord.”

“But I didn’t,” Rose replied, “He came to the Powell Estate last night in his ship, and we danced.”

“I got that.”

“Not that kind of dancing, Jack!”

The captain laughed, and the Doctor blushed, “Anyway, lunch by the fountain as usual?” he asked.

The Doctor glanced around nervously, and realized that people were once again staring at his red pin. He turned away from the street nervously, and covered the pin with his hand. “Just wondering, how public is this fountain?” he asked. 

Rose laid a hand on his arm, “We can eat somewhere else today,” she told him, “I don’t mind.”

The time lord grinned, “You don’t have to,” he replied, “I’m sure I can handle being stared at for a few moments.”

Rose raised an eyebrow, “Are you sure, Doctor?” she asked, resting a hand on his arm, and staring up at him inquisitively. 

After a nod from the Doctor, Jack and Rose exchanged one last glance before nodding, and turning in the direction of the fountain. The Doctor followed closely behind them, using his two friends to cover up the vibrant red pin on his chest. He swallowed nervously as he walked, but no one stared this time. His cover must’ve been working. 

A few minutes later, they reached the fountain Rose and Jack had been talking about, and the two of them sat on the water’s edge. The time lord was quick to join them, and he sat down between the two humans, letting his fingers dip into the water, and trace little patterns in its surface. 

“What’s up with the pin?” Jack asked suddenly, “It kind of clashes with the rest of your look. Not that I think you look bad in red, but…”

The Doctor sighed, “Xenophobia, captain,” he replied, “That’s what’s up with the pin.”

Rose leaned her head against his sholder, and wrapped an arm around his waist in a small hug, “I’m sorry,” she breathed, her apology one of the most genuine he’d ever heard. 

The Doctor shook his head, “It’s fine, it’s just… The captain of the guard this morning, the community guard,” he explained, “I pointed out to him that doing this wasn’t unlike what Hitler did to the Jewish during the second world war, and he scarcely batted an eye. You’d think you lot would learn from your history.”

“You lot, huh?” Jack questioned teasingly, “Now you sound like an alien.”

“Don’t,” the Doctor warned, then he suddenly turned towards the fountain, and looked down, pretending to be fascinated by the water once again. 

Rose and Jack looked at each other again, then out in the direction he’d been facing. Seeing nothing amiss, they turned towards the Doctor, and Jack tapped him on the shoulder, “Doc?” he asked, “What’s going on?”

“There’s been a group of five men staring at us ever since we got here,” the Doctor said quietly, “More specifically, staring at me, at this,” he pointed to the pin on his chest, “Humans know what it means. They told you lot, well, most of you—not you two it seems—that anyone with this pin was a time lord. And I’m guessing, judging by that stare, that they don’t exactly intend to do good things with this knowledge.”

Rose turned away, and looked out at the crowd before them, her eyes finally landing on a group of men dressed in darker colors standing over by a bar, staring directly at the three of them. More specifically, at the man in the blue suit. Their gaze was unsettling, and full of darkness. Rose wanted nothing more than to be as far away from the men as possible. She could practically sense the ill will they held for the time lord sitting beside her. 

To make matters worse, the group was now heading towards them at a pace that was a little too fast for comfort. They couldn’t imagine it would be much better if the group was moving slowly, however. As they got closer, Rose examined their faces, recognizing three of the five men. One of them was her neighbor, Jason, whom she’d seen at her and her mum’s flat one too many times during a Jackie Tyler Anti-Alien Rant. Another was a different neighbor of hers, Daniel Llewellyn. She’d seen him in the flat during the rants, too. Sometimes at the same time as Jason. 

The third man in the group of five was someone she hadn’t expected to see. It was her ex-boyfriend, Mickey Smith. Her mouth dropped open in disbelief. She’d known Mickey didn’t trust the time lords, but she hadn’t known that he despised them with such disdain that he would come out in the open like this, presumably to cause the Doctor and others like him harm. 

“Mickey?” she asked as the group got closer, “What are you doing here?”

“I’m just sayin’ hello to a friend, Rose,” he replied, “Can’t I do that?”

Jack scoffed, “Quit the bullshit, Mickey,” he retorted, “We saw you and your new friends staring down our blue suited fox here,” he threw a wink in the Doctor’s direction, and the Doctor blushed. 

“We were staring him down because he’s not exactly from around here,” Mickey told him, “And I didn’t know what he was going to do to Rose.”

Rose rolled her eyes, “I’m not your business anymore, Mickey,” she replied, “You don’t have to protect me. Just leave this alone, please.”

Mickey stared at her, “But, Rose, he’s a…” he protested, sparing a glance at the Doctor, “One of them. He’s an alien. You’re seriously gonna trust an alien?”

She gave him a nod, “Oh, yes I am,” she replied, resting a hand over the Doctor’s, “He’s not the one standing before me saying he’s going to protect me from someone who isn’t even remotely a threat to my life. He’s not the one being a xenophobic arsehole.”

The men surrounding Mickey stared at her in disbelief, then one of them, Jason, walked forward, and whispered something into Mickey’s ear. The three sitting by the fountain couldn’t quite make out what he was saying, but they could gather that it was unlikely to be anything good. 

“Be ready to run,” Jack whispered quietly into the Doctor’s ear, “I don’t think they’re going to let this go.”

The Doctor gave him a nod as Jason stepped away from Mickey, and the darker skinned man tossed them one last glance before walking away, “I’m gonna go get a coffee,” he announced, “See you later, Rose.”

She gave him a half-hearted wave, “See ya,” she replied nervously. Then they were left alone with the four other people, whom Rose was certain she couldn’t trust. 

Suddenly and without warning, Jason rushed forward, and shoved the Doctor into the fountain water. The Doctor, who had still been facing the fountain, fell face first, taking what felt like an ocean of water up his nose. It didn’t feel good by any means, but his alien biology made the action a little less painful that it would’ve been if he were human. What Jason had done saddened him more than anything. He’d hoped that by facing away from the threatening humans and not saying anything during the confrontation, he’d avoid it entirely, but he was having no such luck. 

The Doctor pushed himself back up above the water, and stood to face Jason. He rubbed the water out of his eyes, only to see Jason’s fist coming straight for his jaw. He blocked the punch successfully, but that was the extent of his defensive moves. The other three men jumped into the fountain as well, pushing past Rose and Jack’s attempts to stop them, and rushing to restrain the Doctor’s arms as Jason drove punch after punch into the time lord’s gut. 

He cried out in pain as Jason landed a punch to his diaphragm, feeling his respiratory bypass kick in as the wind was knocked out of him, “Stop,” he choked out, “Please.” He begged the man to stop with his eyes, hoping to appeal to his merciful side, hoping the man would understand that he was in pain, and he wasn’t going to hurt him. 

“Go back to wherever the fuck you came from, alien swine!” Jason cried as he continued his assault, each punch causing the time lord more pain than the last. 

 

“Get off of him!” Rose screamed, reaching out for Jason’s arm only to be swatted away like a fly. She fell back onto the edge of the fountain, and immediately pushed herself off, trying yet again to get him away from the Doctor.

Her efforts were futile, for Jason landed another punch, this time to the Doctor’s mouth, and the time lord spat out blood, wincing as he prepared to face the next punch. 

“Hey!” Jack cried out, and the Doctor saw the captain jump into the fountain with them, and throw a punch straight into Jason’s nose. 

The Doctor’s assailant fell backwards into the fountain with an enormous splash, and slowly got up a moment later, streaks of red dripping from his nose as he glared at Jack, “You’re so stupid,” he hissed, “Trusting them. It’ll only end in misery. I feel sorry for you.” 

“I don’t want your pity,” Jack growled, “Get away from my friend, and leave before someone calls a cop,” he gestured to the many people around them. They were being stared at by at least a hundred people, and the area had grown dead silent throughout the fight.

Jason looked at the three still restraining the beaten Doctor, and gave them a nod. They let him go, and he stumbled forward, falling into Jack’s arms with a defeated groan. 

During the encounter, the Doctor’s adrenaline had kept him from noticing the true extent of the pain they were inflicting. He hadn’t quite noticed just how badly it hurt until they let him go, and he was using Jack as support to keep himself standing. His chest felt like it’d taken a hit from a truck, and his face wasn’t doing much better. He could already feel purple and blue bruises appearing on his face, and blood dripping from a cut on his forehead. 

“Come on, let’s get out of here before a copper spots us,” Jason said, then he and his friends took off in the same direction Mickey had minutes earlier. 

The Doctor groaned, and leaned further into Jack as the captain led him slowly out of the fountain, “Come on, Doc, you can do this,” he encouraged him, stepping over the fountain’s edge, and lifting the weakened time lord out with him, “Rose, help me out.”

The blonde didn’t hesitate to put one of the Doctor’s arms over her shoulders, allowing him to lean on her as well for support. He hung his head low, avoiding looking at any of the humans who stared at them as they walked by. Several were on their cell phones, likely reporting the incident to the police, or worse, the community guard. “We’ve got to get out of here now,” the Doctor told them quietly.

Rose nodded, “Where can we go?” she asked, “There’s nothing here but shops.”

Jack glanced down at his wrist, where the vortex manipulator was still in place, “We could always take the fast way,” he suggested. 

The Doctor groaned involuntarily, which Jack mistook for a no, “Okay, fine we won’t take the fast way,” he said in response.

“No,” the time lord grunted, “We can take the vortex manipulator. But where?”

Rose and Jack glanced at each other, and seemed to think for a moment before she spoke up, “My flat,” she replied, “Mum’s not there today, she’s on a date with this bloke from the market. Howard, I think.”

“Oh, so it did work out with Howard?” Jack asked, entering the coordinates into the vortex manipulator.

Rose gave him a nod, “Yeah, suppose it did,” she replied as he finished inputting the coordinates. She placed her hand over the manipulator, and watched as the Doctor did as well, then Jack pressed the button, and they left the crowded street.


	6. One Hand, Two Hearts

Not a second later the two humans and the time lord emerged unceremoniously in the Tyler’s living room, each of them collapsing to the floor instantly. They were all made dizzy by the capsule-less time travel, but none of them were in as bad of a condition as the Doctor, who stayed on the floor as the others stood. 

The time lord groaned in pain, and his arms crossed over his abdomen as he curled himself into a ball on Rose’s floor, ignoring his friends’ cries of his name. The pain had only been intensifying over the past few minutes since they’d left the fountain, and he couldn’t bare to stand for another moment. 

“Doctor?” Rose’s voice sounded in his ear, “Doctor, can you move?” He heard the sound of fabric shuffle, and his trench coat landed on the nearby sofa a moment later. 

He weakly shook his head, “Not at the moment,” he grunted out, pressing one of his hands against the floor, and attempting to push himself off the ground. This only lead to him crying out in pain again as his bruised body tensed, and he collapsed back onto the floor. 

“We’re gonna have to carry him,” Jack observed, “Where’s the best place for him, Rose?”

Rose looked around, and her eyes landed on a door on the far side of the room, “Jack, don’t make jokes, but my bedroom,” she told him, then she smacked his shoulder when he snickered, “I’m serious. We can’t leave him on the sofa here, my mum could decide to come home. If he’s in my bedroom I can hide him better. She never goes in there unless I invite her.”

Jack laughed again, and glanced down at the Doctor, kneeling down on the floor beside him, and resting a hand on his shoulder, “What do you think, Doctor?” he asked, “Rose’s bedroom sound nice?”

“Sounds brilliant,” he dead-panned, sighing as the two of them gingerly placed their hands underneath his shoulders and his legs, and began to lift him up to carry him into the bedroom. Jack took his shoulders, and Rose took his legs. The two of them were trying to be gentle, but the Doctor couldn’t help the occasional wince he gave them from the pain as they began the short, yet all too long, walk to Rose’s bedroom. 

A moment later, they set him down on a bed with pink sheets in a room with a similar color scheme. The walls were a bit more red looking, but still fit well with the color he’d come to associate with the human woman. Shelves lined a few of the walls, and there was a nightstand by his head with a black, digital clock, which read “13:03” in red numbers. He had less than ten hours to recover from his attack, and return to the community. He could only hope that the captain of the guard didn’t notice his injuries. He had a feeling that he wouldn’t exactly be treated with compassion if someone noticed what had happened to him. 

As soon as he was set down on the bed, Rose and Jack began to assess his injuries, starting with the bleeding cut on his forehead. “Jack, get a towel,” she commanded him, “If his blood gets on my sheets, my mum’ll get suspicious.” 

Jack instantly headed into Rose’s bathroom, and brought out a black towel. Rose grinned when she saw it, “Nice thinking,” she commented, then she gently lifted the Doctor’s head, and placed it beneath him, “Now, um… Check his other injuries, I’m gonna grab a first aid kit.”

The captain frowned, “Rose, just what do you think we’ll be able to do for him?” he asked, “We don’t know how to treat a human’s injuries, let alone a time lord’s.”

The Doctor cleared his throat, “If it helps, my biology enables me to heal a bit faster,” he told them, “I can easily recover from the injuries to my abdomen, my head, but some ice would be nice… Ha! Ice would be nice!” he sing-songed, “Never gets old, that one.” Rose laughed and rolled her eyes at him as she left the room, leaving Jack to assess their friend’s wounds.

“Are you always like this, or did they hit your head too hard?” Jack asked with a grin, trying to make light of the situation. 

The Doctor shrugged, “Bit of both, really,” he confessed. 

Jack laughed, then he looked down at the Doctor’s abdomen, “Doc, could I…” he motioned to the beaten area. The time lord gave him a nod, so he reached down, and untied the Doctor’s tie, then he took it off of him completely, resting it on top of the clock on Rose’s nightstand before he looked down at the shirt and the buttons, “You sure?” he asked. Another nod was given, and Jack began to unbutton the Doctor’s shirt. 

At first, nothing seemed amiss, and Jack thought that perhaps the Doctor hadn’t taken as bad of a beating as he and Rose initially thought. That was quickly proven to not be the case. By the time the Captain had reached the final button of the Doctor’s light blue oxford, the skin beneath it had gone from a soft, pale color to various shades of purple and blue in places. Jack’s eyes widened as he took in the sight of it, and even further when he opened the Doctor’s shirt entirely to look at all of the bruises, “Rose?” he called out.

“Yeah?”

“You’re gonna want to bring a lot of ice.”

“Shit.”

Rose returned to the room a moment later with a first aid kit in one hand, and several ice packs in the other. She gasped when she saw the state of the Doctor, unable to believe the extent of the damage done to him. “Oh my god,” she breathed, “What have they done to you?”

The Doctor’s eyebrows furrowed, “What?” he asked, “What is it?” 

“Doctor, your skin looks like a bloody grape,” Rose muttered, putting the supplies down on a nearby chair, and crawling onto the bed from the other side to examine him, “God, I’m so sorry this happened to you.”

He shook his head, “Rose, it’s alright,” he murmured, “It’s not your fault.”

Rose opened her mouth to protest, but was interrupted by Jack clearing his throat, “Listen, we can all play the blame game later, right now, I want to clean that cut,” he said sternly, “And then I want to pray that we don’t need to see an actual Doctor if he needs stitches.”

“I don’t think it’s that deep, do you?” Rose asked, examining the cut further. She reached her hand up, and smoothed back the hair that had fallen around his forehead, some of it sticking to the cut. He winced as she swept it away, and she whispered an apology as she took a long look at the cut. It didn’t seem terribly deep, and was just barely leaking blood in one small drop sized stream that only barely leaked fluid. The bleeding was already slowing down. Within no time at all, it would stop. He likely only needed a bandage pressed to the wound to stop the bleeding entirely. She was certain of it. 

“Nah, it probably isn’t,” Jack replied, bringing the chair closer to him, moving the supplies off of the chair, and sitting on it before he began stifling through the first aid kit for bandages. It didn’t take him long to find what he was looking for, and he smiled when he found one of those really large bandaids that are typically only reserved for large scrapes, “This’ll do,” he told them. 

The Doctor laughed weakly, “Oh, I’ll look ridiculous,” he muttered bitterly, “Please spare me.”

Jack looked at Rose, “You know what they say,” he said as he unwrapped the band-aid, “Doctors make the worst patients.”

Rose openly giggled as Jack pressed the offending band-aid onto the Doctor’s injury, then she laughed even harder seeing his hysterical looking grimace once it was placed. She shook her head, and reached over to grab the ice packs, then she stopped laughing, and sighed, looking him dead in the eyes, “Doctor, do you want me to wrap these in towels so you don’t have to feel how cold they are?” she asked. 

“No, it’ll heal me faster if you just place it on me,” he replied, looking down at his bared chest, “Don’t worry, it’s just cold, I’ll be fine.” 

She glanced down at him nervously, “Are you sure?” she asked, not wanting to cause him anymore pain than she felt she already had. 

The Doctor nodded, and with one last nervous glance, Rose leaned over, and placed an ice pack on one of his bruises. His breath hitched, but he said nothing as she reached over and grabbed another one. She placed five ice packs on him in total, and by the end of it, the Doctor felt as though his entire torso had gone numb from the cold, but he didn’t quite mind the feeling. He almost enjoyed it. It was certainly better than the ache left behind from the gang’s fists. 

“Ah,” he breathed, “Much better… Except for this,” he pointed to the enormous band-aid on his forehead. 

Rose and Jack both laughed, and the time lord groaned, “It’s not funny,” he groaned, “Oh, my dignity. I just had to suggest this planet…” 

“Drama queen,” Rose muttered, laying down beside him and propping herself up on her elbow as she looked down at him. 

The Doctor looked up at her with a grin on his face, and in his eyes she could see a mixture of pain, relief, adoration, and mischief. The mischievous part of the look he was giving her was slowly but surely taking precedence over the other feelings she was able to see, and she quirked an eyebrow at him as she wondered why. 

“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked after a moment of silence had fallen between the three of them. 

“Did no one think to place towels underneath the rest of me?” the Doctor asked, “My clothes are soaked, I’ve gotten your bed all wet.”

Rose groaned, “Oh, you bastard,” she said, though she was grinning.

Jack laughed, “I’m sure it’s not the first time, Doctor,” he joked with a wink. 

“Jack!” they cried at the same time, both of them blushing as they turned to look at the captain. 

“But speaking of wet clothes, and in all seriousness, I’m sure you’d like to get out of them,” Jack observed, “That can’t be comfortable.”

The Doctor shrugged, “I can manage,” he told them, though in truth it was making him extremely uncomfortable, and rather cold. The ice packs certainly weren’t helping in that area, and as he noticed the cold for the first time, he felt goosebumps appear on his skin, and he shivered lightly. 

“Yeah, sure you can,” Jack retorted, then he looked up at Rose, “Has Howard left any clothes here?” he asked, glancing at the bedroom door.

“No,” she replied, “He hasn’t stayed the night here yet, thank god.”

Jack snickered quietly, then his look sobered, “Well, there goes that idea,” he muttered, then he stood up, and began entering coordinates into his vortex manipulator. 

“Where’re you going?” Rose asked, her eyebrows furrowing as she looked up at him curiously, “What are you doing?”

“I’m going to pop back to the shops to get this guy some clothes,” Jack replied as he finished entering in the coordinates, “I’ll be back in a few minutes,” he added with a wink at Rose, “In the meantime, get this guy undressed—leave his pants on if you want—and cover him with a blanket or something.”

Rose’s mouth dropped open, “I’m not just gonna—” she didn’t get to finish her sentence, the former time agent was already gone. She glanced nervously down at the Doctor, “I guess we’re doing this, then,” she breathed, leaning over him. 

He laughed nervously, “Suppose so, yeah,” he replied, then he paused, “You want to start with the trousers, or…?”

She gave his body a once over, “Let’s start with trousers, yeah,” she agreed, “That’ll give you an extra minute before I have to remove the ice packs.”

The Doctor shrugged, “Sounds like a plan,” he said calmly. Truthfully, he didn’t feel like he actually needed the ice packs anymore. He could already feel the bruises healing. His superior time lord biology had kicked in. By the time he had to return to the community, he would already be healed. He wasn’t so sure about the cut on his head, though. That was likely to leave some sort of a mark. He’d have to be crafty about covering up that one. 

Rose gulped, then she set to work on removing the Doctor’s trousers, trying not to show how nervous she was as she undid the buttons, then the zipper. She maintained a stony mask of sorts as she slowly removed them from their place around his hips, and down his legs, trying not to let a slew of Jack-esque thoughts escape to the forefront of her mind as she moved them down his thighs. She paused to remove his chucks, and tossed them to the corner of the room before she finished removing his trousers, and tossed them over the chair she’d set the first-aid supplies on a few minutes earlier. Then she moved back up to his torso, and her eyes briefly made contact with his before she gently removed the ice packs from his chest one by one, and then setting them down on the nightstand. 

She stared at him in awe. The bluish, purple marks that had been there before had faded into a sickly yellow, which was already starting to fade back into the fair color of his skin. He was right, he was a fast healer. “Wow,” she breathed, feeling her breath shudder a little. She glanced up at his face, then back down at his chest before she lay a warm hand over where one of the bruises had been on his rib cage, allowing her warm palm to feel the ice-cold, bruised skin of the Doctor. She could feel his two hearts beating beneath her hand, and she smiled, “Two hearts,” she murmured, looking up into his eyes, “You lot weren’t kidding.” 

The Doctor grinned, and sat up slightly as she moved to take off his suit jacket and shirt in one fell swoop, sliding them off of his shoulders, and draping them over the chair as well. “And that’s virtually the only difference between us,” he said solemnly, “That and we live for a much longer period of time. Physically, though? We’re quite alike, you and me.”

Rose looked into his eyes once again as she grabbed a blanket from the foot of the bed, and spread it over his lower body, “I can see that,” she replied, “Two legs, two arms, one head... I don’t understand why everyone’s so afraid of you. You look just like people. If it weren’t for those stupid buttons they make you wear, I’d believe you were actually human.”

A solemn expression crossed the Doctor’s face, “I know,” he murmured, a lump forming in his throat, “I traveled here before the war, and it was… It was always so welcoming… I even worked for an organization here… UNIT, it was called. Dealt with aliens and that sort of thing… I traveled with human beings before, and they were always fascinated by this stuff, the space stuff, that is. Oh, sure it scared them, but they loved it more than anything. To see this? What happened to me? To others from my planet? It breaks my hearts.”

Rose’s hand caressed his cheek, “I’m sorry,” she said softly, “God, I ought to slap them for what they did to you.”

The Doctor leaned into her touch, “No, don’t talk like that, they were just afraid, and they lashed out,” he muttered, “I don’t like it, but all they are, are victims of fear mongering and xenophobia.”

Rose shook her head, “I didn’t mean my neighbors,” she replied, “I meant the fools who made you wear the red button. Without it, like I said, if it weren’t for those buttons…”

Wincing, the Doctor slowly sat up, and propped himself against the headboard of her bed, using a pillow to provide his back some comfort. Rose’s eyes fell on his bare chest, taking in the appearance of the nearly naked Gallifreyan before she snapped her eyes front, and blushed at the smug grin on his face. He’d known precisely what she was doing. She’d all but announced that she was checking him out. He sighed, “I know,” he told her, reaching a hand up, and stroking her hair, “We truly do look exactly alike.”

She closed her eyes, and moved closer to him so that she was sitting hip to hip with him, and they were looking at each other face to face. Her eyes darted between his, observing the deep shade of brown, “Brown eyes,” she said quietly, “Not any outrageous color, just perfectly human looking brown eyes.”

“I could argue that yours are perfectly time lord looking hazel.”

“Oh, shut it, you.”

“We existed first.”

“Shut it, I’m trying to prove a point.”

“Prove away.”

Rose studied his face for another moment, and smiled when she noticed another charming quality he had in common with the human race, “Freckles,” she giggled, “All over your face, little freckles, that looks human, too.”

“Or time lord?”

They both laughed again, and then she sighed, “I just don’t understand how anyone could hate something so similar to themselves,” she said, “When they hurt you lot… Does it not feel like they’re hurting another person? How do they not feel remorse for what they’re doing? Guilt?”

The Doctor looked down, “I don’t know,” he replied, swallowing nervously, “I guess they just try to ignore it, try to convince themselves that what they’re hurting isn’t human, doesn’t have human emotions… Can’t be human…”

Rose sighed, and he stopped stroking her hair to take hold of her hand, entwining their fingers, and smiling as he did so. She smiled back, and held up their joined hands, “It’s a perfect fit,” she observed, “Two hands… We’ve both got two hands as well…”

“Guess like this, it’s only one hand,” he commented.

“Guess so.”

“One hand, two hearts,” he added cheekily, “If we’re going by the entwined metaphor here.”

Rose could think of a couple of other ways they could be entwined, and a blush rose to her cheeks at the thought. He saw her blushing, and quirked an eyebrow, “Have I said too much?” he asked, “I did kind of hit my head back there, and I ramble enough as it is. I’m sorry, Rose, I’m so—”

She didn’t respond, she simply reached up with her free hand, and held on to the back of his head as she leaned in and kissed him, her lips parting to meet his in their third kiss. The Doctor seemed mildly stunned at first, but then he was kissing her as passionately as she was kissing him. Their hands were still entwined as the hand that had gripped the Doctor’s hair fell down to rest on his chest, feeling his two hearts beating beneath her palm. 

Rose smiled into the kiss, and suppressed a shudder when he reached up one of his hands and placed it over the center of her chest, feeling her single heart beating. Inside her chest, it was racing faster than it ever had before. He gently pulled away, and rested his forehead against hers, “And there’s the only difference,” he murmured solemnly, neither of them moved their hands from each other’s chests. 

With another shuddering breath, Rose sighed, and began to kiss him again, letting go of his hand, and allowing her newly free one to find its grip in his hair, something she found she was quickly enjoying doing. He let out a soft moan, and she grinned into their kiss as she deepened it, sliding the hand on his hearts around his waist as she pulled herself closer to him. She felt one of his hands reach around her back, caressing the back of her shoulder, and the other reached for her cheek. 

She reached down and began to remove the blanket from his body, but the hand that had begun to caress her cheek quickly reached down to stop her, “Have you forgotten about our time and space travelling pervert?” he asked cheekily. 

Rose sighed, and leaned back, “God, you’re right,” she muttered, “Though he did say he’d be a few minutes,” she added nervously, glancing back at the bedroom door.

They both giggled, and Rose looked back at the Doctor, glancing nervously between his eyes before she kissed him again, and he returned the kiss instantly. Her hands immediately buried themselves in her hair, and she grinned when she felt his wrap around her waist as he pulled her closer and closer to him until she was flush against him. Rose let her legs stretch out alongside him as her top half was pulled on top of his, then she paused, finding the position to be a tad too uncomfortable. 

She pulled away for a moment, and he seemed to get the message. He sank back down into the pillows so that he was lying down once again, and Rose lifted up the blanket, then climbed threw it on top of both of them as she lowered herself back onto him, her legs between his as she resumed kissing him. The Doctor’s cool hands reached around for their favorite place on her back, and a small moan was released from his lips as Rose reached up one of her hands, and gave his hair a slight tug. 

Rose wasn’t quite sure how long they kissed for, only that by the end of this particular kiss, she broke away from him desperate for air, and she took in several deep breaths as she once again rested her forehead against his. Even he seemed to be panting a little bit. 

“Doctor?” she asked softly, her eyes still closed.

“Hmm?”

“What does this mean, you and I? What sort of direction are we headed in?”

The Doctor hesitated, genuinely not knowing how to answer her question. He began to stroke her hair, and he sighed, “Well, I don’t know,” he confessed, “I just… We just… We’ve got something, you and me. Something we shouldn’t have according to the rest of the world—at least, according to my friend—and it’s…”

“It’s what, Doctor?” she asked, her fingers tracing the contours of his collar bone as he spoke. 

“It’s brilliant,” he told her, grinning as he used his favorite word, “And maybe one day the world will accept it, but for now…”

“We’ve got to keep quiet about this, haven’t we?” 

A solemn nod, “Yeah, we have,” he said softly, “I don’t want to imagine what those men would’ve done if Jack hadn’t been there, and they’d seen us being… intimate.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” she replied, “What do we do in the mean time?”

“Well, Rose Tyler, remember my blue box?” he asked.

“Yeah… Are you suggesting that we go off in the box and just…?”

“Whatever you want.”

“Isn’t that a bit dangerous?”

“I’m in danger every day that I’m in that community. A little escape might be nice actually. I used to be afraid of leaving them, the time lords, but now…? I fear going back there every time I leave, I’ve had nightmares every night… Except last night… I had a dream about you last night, you and me, dancing… It was nice.”

Rose laughed, “Just dancing?”

“We talked some, that was nice, too.”

“What did we talk about?”

“Your two left feet.”

She smacked his shoulder, “Oi!”

The time lord laughed, a warm sound that filled Rose with delight. How could someone who had been through so much be so happy? He’d been through a good seven weeks of hell on Earth, and no one knew just how long the time war had raged before that. Yet here he was, laughing and smiling away. “How do you do that?” she asked quietly.

“Do what?”

“Stay happy all the time,” she replied, “How do you—?”

She didn’t get to finish her question. At that moment, there was a loud zapping noise from outside the bedroom, and they both knew that the captain had returned. Rose sighed, and quickly rolled off of the Doctor to prevent their flirtatious friend from getting any ideas. She tried to cover him back up with the blanket before Jack came back into the room, but the captain walked in just as she was smoothing it out again over the Doctor’s chest. 

The captain walked in carrying two shopping bags from Henrik’s of all places, and he dropped them both on the floor to laugh at his friends, “I saw that,” he teased, poking Rose’s shoulder as he sat down in the chair holding the Doctor’s soaked clothes. He was careful not to lean back into them and get himself wet. “Damn, I really thought I’d given you enough time,” he muttered, “Sorry about that.”

The Doctor and Rose threw him a glare, “Jack!” they protested simultaneously. 

“’Sides, what proof do you even have that something happened?” Rose asked, raising an eyebrow at the captain.   
Jack pointed to the Doctor’s hair, “That’s even messier than it was when I left,” he told her, then he looked at her own disheveled appearance, “Yours too. Not to mention the position change, the dishevelment of your sheets… And I nearly tripped over your shoes on my way in here. They’re nice, by the way.”

“Thanks.”

“Welcome. So… How’d it go?”

“JACK!” they protested again.

The captain snickered, then he stood up, grabbed the bags he’d dropped a moment earlier, and brought them over to the bed, “You still want these?” he asked with a wink.

The Doctor rolled his eyes, “Oh yes,” he replied, reaching out for the bags, and causing the blanket to fall from his chest in the process, revealing his healing injuries. 

“Holy shit,” Jack breathed, kneeling down beside the bed, and examining the Doctor’s chest, “They’re practically gone. How’d you do that?”

“Superior time lord biology,” he quipped. 

“Ah, so this is what’ll happen the minute the human race decides to like the time lords,” Jack commented, “You’ll get cocky.”

“Always have been, always will be,” the Doctor replied.

Rose giggled, “Anyway, what have you got for us, Jack?” she asked as the time lord dove into the bags, and pulled out a blue suit jacket not unlike the one he’d been wearing earlier. He then pulled out a crimson tie and a light blue oxford, a pair of blue trousers, a pair of pants, and maroon colored chucks like the ones he’d worn into town. 

“I figured it’d be best if you returned to the community looking like you did when you left,” Jack told him, “So I bought some stuff that looked exactly like what you’d been wearing, except a bit drier.”

The Doctor laughed, “Yes, thank you, Jack,” he replied, giving the captain a warm smile. The time lord then rolled out of the bed, and grabbed the dry clothes. He gave the two of them an awkward glance, “Is this a new thing with humans?” he asked, “You’re all comfortable watching people you don’t know too well get undressed?” He glanced down at the still wet pants he had yet to change out of. 

Rose blushed, and Jack snickered before the blonde woman ushered him out of the room, and left the Doctor alone to change. The two walked over to the sofa, and sat down. Rose turned on the T.V, and they began to watch a news broadcast. The reporter on screen was talking about the first true integration day of the time lords, saying that there had been five attacks on time lords, including the Doctor’s. They even showed a brief cell phone clip of the attack in the fountain. Rose winced as she watched Jason land his punches in the Doctor’s gut. It wasn’t a memory she was particularly eager to relive. 

Jack scoffed, “God, those stupid fucking buttons,” he muttered.

Rose nodded, “Amen to that,” she breathed. 

“…However, it should also be noted that there was one attack of a time lord on humans,” the reporter said, and Rose and Jack put their heads in their hands, knowing exactly how this piece of news would be interpreted by the public, “A time lady by the name of Mariana Smithson attacked human male who chose to remain anonymous when he grabbed her arm. In response, Smithson punched the man five times in the face area, and he is currently in a hospital recovering from his injuries. Smithson has been detained by the authorities in the Gallifreyan community, who are unsure if this is the correct time to begin integration.”

“Oh no,” Rose whispered, glancing at her bedroom door worriedly. They’d been so close, and after only one day, the humans had given up. 

“It has been announced that they will proceed with allowing time lords outside of the community gates as planned through this week, though. So a fair warning to all of you out there, stay safe. These aren’t the streets of London you’re used to anymore. This is Penny Carter signing off.”

And then the broadcast moved into some talk show that neither of them listened to, and Rose turned it off. She massaged her temples, and glanced up at Jack. They shook their heads in disappointment, “They’re spinning this so it’s their fault,” Rose muttered, “They’re innocent! Entirely innocent! Did you see them on the dance floor the other night? They were scared to join us! They are scared of us! We have no reason to be scared of them!”

Jack sighed, “I know, Rose,” he replied, “I know. But what the hell are we gonna do about it?”

The bedroom door opened at that moment to reveal a fully dressed Doctor, complete with a red pin on the lapel of his blazer. He looked at them somberly, and they realized he’d heard everything. There was a fear in the time lord’s eyes like the one they’d seen earlier during the attack, but a little more intense now. He knew it would happen again. History was doomed to repeat itself, and it was only a matter of time thanks to the sensationalized story the media was spinning about the time lords being vicious. 

“So they’re still making us out to be the bad guys?” the Doctor growled as he walked out to join them on the sofa, “Five attacks on my people…” It almost appeared that he was going to cry for a moment, but he blinked a few times, and steadied his gaze on the ground, “I shouldn’t have brought us here. It was my idea. This is… This is all my fault.”

Rose laid a hand on his knee, “No, it’s not,” she told him, attempting to comfort him, “Where else would you have gone?”

“There’s a whole universe out there, Rose,” he breathed, “A whole of time and space. We’re time lords, we could’ve literally gone anywhere, anywhen, and we came here… Because of me, we came here. I’ve put them through this. As if going through a war wasn’t bad enough…” He too rested his head in his hands, and he closed his eyes. 

The blonde sitting beside him wrapped her arms around him, and pulled him to her, “Listen to me,” she said, “You’ve been here before, yeah? You told me, you told Jack… You’ve been here and they were kind to you. Humans liked you in the past, so why wouldn’t they like you now? How were you supposed to know that it’d be like this? You may be a time lord, but even you can’t predict the future.”

“She’s right, Doctor,” Jack admitted, shifting so he was closer to them, “There’s no way you could’ve known what was going to happen. Absolutely no way. Even we didn’t see it, and we’re from this planet—well, I’m from far into the future, but who’s counting?”

The three of them laughed, and the Doctor perked up for the first time since he’d walked into the room a few minutes earlier. “I suppose you’re right,” he murmured, tracing circles on his thigh, “It just—”

The sound of the Tyler’s front door opening interrupted him, and the time lord and his two human friends all blanched to an unnatural shade of white as Jackie Tyler entered the flat with several bags of groceries on her arms. The Doctor threw a glance in the direction of Rose’s bedroom, but it was too late. He had no time to escape. He was going to be caught as soon as her mum looked up, and saw what was on the sofa. 

“Rose?” Jackie called out as she walked into the flat, “Ah, there you are, I’ve got— WHO THE HELL IS THAT?”


	7. From Here to the Moon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is so late. okay, two days late, but still. I had a busy week. Started off with my birthday, then I had a test... gotta love college. Anyway, it's here, it's longer than I intended it to be, and I hope everybody enjoys it.

The Doctor didn't move for a solid ten seconds while Jackie Tyler stared him down, or rather, she stared down the glaring red pin on his chest. His hearts raced faster than he'd ever thought possible as the two continued staring at each other, anxiously awaiting the Other's response. Neither of them breathed or blinked the entire time. 

 

It wasn't until he heard Rose stand up that he finally turned his gaze away from Jackie. The older woman also looked away from him, and at her daughter, seeming angry but not shocked by the time lord's presence. 

 

"What the hell are you thinking?" Jackie shouted, eyes darting back to the Doctor for the briefest of seconds, "He's one of them! You've let a bleedin' alien into my home!"

 

Rose nodded slowly, and cautiously approached her mother, "Mum, he was attacked today," she told her softly, "He was hurt, and he was scared, and he's my friend. I had to help him."

 

"And someone else couldn't?" Jackie asked, bewildered, "You're no judge of character, Rose! You don't know that we can trust them! For all we know, this victim thing is a bloomin' façade, and they're going to attack any day now."

 

"How are you an any better judge of character than me, then?" Rose asked, "You don't know that we can't trust them. They haven't done anything to us."

 

Jackie crossed her arms, "I take it you haven't heard about the attack, then," she muttered. 

 

Jack, Rose, and the Doctor simultaneously looked down and suppressed groans. They'd known this was going to happen. This was exactly how the rest of the public would react to the news of the one time lord attack as well. 

 

"Jackie, there was only one attack from a time lord to a human," Jack said, standing up to join Rose, "And there were five attacks from humans on time lords. When we brought our friend in, he was covered in bruises, and he was bleeding because your neighbors decided to take out their hatred on him."

 

"What?" Jackie asked incredulously, "What neighbors?"

 

"Jason, Daniel... they were with Mickey," Rose told her, "Mickey left before anything happened, I don't think he's got the stomach for this stuff, but he let it happen."

 

Jackie's mouth hung open, and she looked past her daughter at the time lord, who still had the bandage covering the wound on his forehead. A small red spot had appeared in the center of it over the cut. He'd started bleeding again. 

 

"Okay, so he was attacked," Jackie conceded, "Fine. Doesn't change the fact that an innocent human life was put in harm's way because they came here."

 

Rose slammed her palm into her forehead. How could her mother be so stubborn? The time lords were clearly suffering more than the humans were from their arrival on earth. It seemed obvious, but apparently not obvious enough. 

 

"Mum," she breathed, "They're not here to hurt us. They're—"

 

"Rose, stop," the Doctor interrupted from behind her, "Just stop, she's not gonna listen," he slowly stood up as he talked, and his eyes locked on Jackie's, "I'll say this, though, Jackie Tyler. I escaped a war. Every time lord in that community escaped a war, and we came here not to invade, but to live. We just want to live, and you've put us behind gates. We look human, we could blend in, I've done it before."

 

"... you do look like us, I'll give you that," Jackie muttered, "But you're still an alien."

 

There was a moment of silence between the three humans and the time lord as they took in all that had been said thus far. The Doctor was certain he was about to start shaking. Jackie seemed to be calming down, but no one knew what she would do next. Would she allow the time lord to leave her flat in peace? Or would she summon those neighbors to finish what they’d started earlier?

 

“You’re right,” he admitted, “But I can’t change that, and I don’t want to.”

 

Jackie looked at him intensely, “I’m sorry,” she replied, voice softening, then she looked at Rose again, “You, me, kitchen, now,” she told her daughter.

 

Rose glanced at the Doctor, and took his hand in hers for a second before she walked towards the kitchen with her mum leaving Jack and the Doctor alone.

 

The two time travelers slowly descended back down onto the sofa. The Doctor let out an enormous breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding. That had been one of the most intense moments he’d had on Earth since it became his home. “So that’s Jackie Tyler,” he said after a moment.

 

Jack nodded, “Yeah, she’s kind of intense,” he replied, “Not nearly as attractive as Rose, huh?”

 

“ _Jack_ , there’s a time and a place,” the Doctor muttered.

 

The captain laughed, but the laughter was short lived when they heard some yelling coming from the kitchen. Coming from Jackie in particular. The two winced as they tried not to listen to the private conversation between Rose and her mother. “This is my fault,” the time lord breathed, “I caused this.”

 

“Would you knock that ‘it’s my fault’ bull shit off?” Jack asked, “It’s not your fault that Jackie fell victim to xenophobia.”

 

The Doctor sighed, “Maybe not,” he murmured, “But I still feel…’

 

Jack rested a hand on the time lord’s shoulder, looking him in the eyes as he spoke, “It is not your fault,” he said sternly. The look on the Doctor’s face made it clear to him that he still believed it to be his fault, but the captain didn’t press the issue further as the yelling in the kitchen died down to quiet whispers.

 

“Has something happened?” the Doctor asked after a moment of silence.

 

“What do you mean?” Jack asked in response.

 

The Doctor thought for a moment, “Humans used to see that I was an alien and they didn’t question it,” he told his friend, “I was just telling Rose about the adventures I went on with them before the war. I just don’t understand why they’ve suddenly…”

 

Jack shook his head, and leaned back against the sofa, “No, nothing’s happened,” he replied, “I think they’ve just seen one too many invasion movies, and when you came down in a crashing ship…” he let out a chuckle, “They thought it was Independence Day.”

 

The Doctor laughed for the first time since Jackie had come in, “Oh, that movie,” he breathed, “It’s based on something real, though. Script writer was from this planet, Raslei—no, Stal? Maybe Poosh? Point is, they got invaded like that, big ships in the sky and all… Didn’t have quite the happy ending, though…” he cringed visibly, “Hollywood makes it seem a bit… blah.”

 

Jack chuckled, “Don’t insult Independence Day, that’s a classic, Doctor,” he warned him, though there was still a light-hearted, joking tone in his voice.

 

It was then that Rose and her mother walked out of the kitchen with slightly exasperated looks on their faces. Jackie’s had changed the most. Her expression had turned from angry and fearful to a softer, kinder look. Neither man was sure why, but when Jackie approached the couch, both tensed as they watched her lean over the Doctor, her eyes examining the bandage on his forehead intensely.

 

They stayed quiet for a moment as Jackie reached a hand out, and touched the bandage. She grimaced when a little bit of blood got on her finger, but she quickly wiped it off with her fingers. She stood up straight, and looked back at Rose, “Didn’t you notice he’s bleeding again?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

 

Rose nodded, “I’ll go get another one,” she replied, then she walked into her bedroom to grab the first aid kit.

 

By mercy of all the gods the Doctor didn’t believe in, Jackie didn’t question why the kit was in her bedroom. She simply took the kit from Rose’s hands when she returned, and opened it to find a bandage big enough to once again cover the time lord’s wound. Once she found one, she looked back at him, and her fingers picked at the edge of the bloodied band-aid until she had created a tiny flap she could grip in order to rip it off, and sighed, “Do you want me to count to three, or just…?”

 

The Doctor shrugged, and Jackie ripped off the band-aid with a little more force than was probably necessary. He winced at the sting, but it wore off within a few seconds, and he focused on the woman tending to his cut. “How is it?” he asked.

 

Rose’s mother opened the package containing the new bandage, “Not that bad,” she replied, “It’s small, it’s just bleeding. I’m no Doctor, but you’ll be fine.”

 

He tried not to move as she tossed the packaging aside, and gently placed it over the injury, smoothing out the edges before she backed away, and stood crossing her arms.

 

The two stared at each other in anticipation for a moment, neither one wanting to be the first to speak, until Rose took care of that for them. “Mum, why don’t you tell them what we talked about?” she asked.

 

Jackie glanced at her daughter, then she looked back at the Doctor, and she sighed again, “Rose told me I could trust you,” she explained, “And I trust her, so I’ll… I’ll give you a chance. But one wrong move, and you’re out of my good graces, have you got that?”

 

The Doctor nodded, and Jackie continued, “This is mad, all of it,” she muttered, “Nothing I can do about it, though. Except, I promised Rose I’d talk to Mickey and Jason, ask them to lay off of you lot. Figured it’s the least I could do, since they’ve got some of their ideas from me.”

 

“It isn’t your fault, Jackie,” the Doctor said softly. He was about to go into another speech about how this whole thing was his fault, since it was his idea to come to Earth, but stern looks from both Rose and Jack told him not to. “It’s almost never the fault of one person. They were the ones who chose to hurt me. Not you. You didn’t tell them to.”

 

Jackie pulled up a nearby chair, and sat down as they continued to talk, “Maybe that’s true,” she replied, “But it’s the right thing to do, ask them to stop.”

 

“Tell them the other thing,” Rose encouraged her mother.

 

Jackie swallowed, “I also heard about what it’s like in there,” she confessed, “Apparently you haven’t told Rose much, but she knows enough to know that it’s bad. It’s not humane. I know you can’t run away without consequence, but if you ever wanted to…” she pulled out a pen from one of her pockets, and a small piece of paper from the other, and began to write down an address, “This is our address.”

 

 

The Doctor’s eyes widened in shock. Just how convincing had Rose been during their talk? What had she said to Jackie to make her suddenly willing to let him live there if he’d needed to? Or had he simply underestimated the other blonde woman? His eyes darted between Jackie and her daughter for a moment, not missing the grin spreading on Rose’s face. He could’ve kissed her again then and there in front of her mother, but he’d just found his way to her good side. He wasn’t crossing her right then.

 

“Thank you,” he breathed, looking between them, “Both of you.”

 

Jack cleared his throat, “You know, I think it’d make things easier if you just took off the button,” he commented, “No one could tell what you were if you weren’t wearing that.”

 

The Doctor shook his head, “I wish it were that simple,” he replied, “I haven’t had a chance to scan it yet, but I have every reason to believe that there’s some sort of tracking device in the button, senses whether or not it’s being worn. Captain of the guard let me leave this morning a little too casually. First one he let go actually.” He could only hope he was right, and that it didn’t also track his location. If it did, he wondered how the guard would handle him being in the shops one minute and in someone’s flat the next.

 

Rose sat down beside him, eyebrows raised in confusion, “Why’d he let you go first?” she asked.

 

“Because I called him out,” the Doctor explained, “Remember when I told you that I said it was all rather Hitler-like?”

 

The others slowly nodded, realizing what he was saying, “The captain resents us,” the Doctor continued, “He’s got a particular hatred for me. In his defense, I’ve got a bit of a gob on me. Don’t know when to stop talking. But in _my_ defense, he’s a cruel man. I’ve seen him strike my people, he’s gotten me a few times. Move too slow in the breakfast line? Slap. Accidentally make eye contact with him when he’s in a bad mood? Slap. And then there’s the way he’s handled the assault cases… It’s just… We all want to do something about it, but most of us are hoping that if we just ‘behave,’ as he likes to say, we’ll be let go eventually. It’ll all happen naturally…” he couldn’t hide the bitterness in his voice as he spoke.

 

“Doesn’t sound like that’s what you want, though,” Rose observed, “Sounds like you want to make a stand.”

 

“If we’re being perfectly honest, yes,” he replied, “We shouldn’t have to stand around waiting to start our lives here. Shouldn’t have to be constantly put in harm’s way by both the guard and the people… Once we blend in and get rid of these ridiculous pins, no one will know we’re even there. It’ll be like nothing ever happened.”  


“Except everyone will know there’s random aliens walking in the streets,” Jackie mumbled under her breath. She wasn’t quiet enough, though, and Rose’s head snapped in her direction, and she glared at her mother.

 

“Mum, please,” she said, “I told you, you can trust them, they’re not here to hurt us.”

 

Jackie shook her head, “I know, Rose,” she replied, taking her daughter’s hand, “But you can’t make me change my mind about everything in ten minutes. Just give me time,” her eyes darted to the Doctor when she said that last sentence.

 

Rose squeezed her mother’s hand, then let it go, and her eyes landed on the clock on the far wall, which read “15:23,” and she turned to the Doctor, “When do you have to be back by?” she asked, “There’s no way they’d let you out without a curfew.”

 

“Seven more hours,” the Doctor replied, dreading his return to the hellish community, “I’ve only got seven more hours.”

 

Jackie scoffed, “Sounds like you’ve got a lot of time on your hands,” she muttered.

 

“Not enough,” he murmured.

 

Another silence fell over the room, and they all stayed quiet for a moment, lost in thought. The Doctor looked at the three humans before him. The first two he’d met had been willing to help him instantly, and the third had only taken a little push in the right direction. It made him wonder just what he’d done to deserve his new human friends, to deserve Rose… Maybe it wasn’t entirely his fault, and this was the universe’s way of letting him know.

 

Jack cleared his throat, “So, seven hours to kill,” he said, standing up, and clapping his hands together, “Who wants to go downtown?”

 

The Doctor looked up at the captain, and sighed, “Not so sure I’m willing to risk another beating yet,” he admitted, “This is still healing.” He pointed to the second enormous band-aid he received that day, and Jack laughed.

 

“Okay, so we’ll stay in, then,” he replied, “Do you mind, Jackie?”

 

The elder Tyler shook her head, “Nah,” she breathed, “I was only going to be in and out anyways. I’m meeting Howard… Ten minutes ago!” With that, she was hurriedly rushing about the room, grabbing her purse and her keys before she ran out the door, and left them alone.

 

They were quiet for about ten seconds before the captain began rolling up his sleeve, “Or we could go out somewhere else?” he asked suggestively, glancing down at the vortex manipulator on his wrist.

 

The Doctor and Rose looked at it uncertainly. Neither of them were fans of the captain’s method of time travel, but it didn’t seem like they had any other option, unless the Doctor wanted to stay indoors all day. The time lord had never been one for staying put, however, and he jumped up off the sofa, and beamed at Jack, “That’s brilliant!” he exclaimed, “But we’re taking mine if we’re going anywhere.”

 

Jack crossed his arms, “Isn’t your ship in the community?” he asked teasingly.

 

The Doctor nodded, “Yeah, I figured you could zap us over there, and I could zap us everywhere else,” he replied.  

 

Jack looked between the Doctor and Rose for a moment, then sighed as he entered in the coordinates. The time lord could've fist pumped. After the day he had, he needed to see his ship. He needed some sort of adventure, even if they didn't go very far. He wasn't sure he'd want to go that far anyway, still not wanting to leave his people behind while he took joy rides. 

 

"Aaaaand that's it," jack announced as he finished feeding the manipulator the coordinates, "Hold on tight."

 

The other two quickly reached their hands over, and placed them on top of the little gadget. Jack grinned one last time, then he pressed a button, and they were in the old janitor's closet that contained the Tardis. 

 

The Doctor wobbled on his feet for a moment, catching himself on his ship. He beamed up at the Tardis as his hands stayed in their place on the doors, "Hello, sexy," he whispered. The time lord reached into his pocket, and pulled out the key. 

 

Rose giggled behind him as he inserted it into the lock, and turned until he heard it unlock, "What's so funny?" He asked as he pushed the door open. 

 

"Bigger on the inside, high tech, alien ship needs an ordinary key to get in," she replied, "Not very Spock, is it?"

 

"Does it have to be?" He protested as he walked inside. 

 

The other two were quick to follow. "No, it doesn't," Rose agreed, "Suits you, though."

 

"Thanks."

 

The Doctor strolled up to the console and ran his hands over the buttons, contemplating just where he wanted to go. He wanted more than anything to take his ship back out into the universe, and wished that things were better on Earth for the other time lords. He would've seen planets a billion light years away by then if things weren't so awful. 

 

"So, all of time and space... and seven hours to kill..." the Doctor began, "Where to first?"

 

Jack and Rose both seemed stumped by the question. The instant he'd asked, everywhere they'd ever heard of disappeared from their minds.

 

"Don't we have more than seven hours, Doctor?" Rose asked, walking up to the console, and leaning against it, "This is a time machine."

 

Jack nodded in agreement, "We've literally got all the time in the world," he said, "We could do anything," he added suggestively. 

 

"Jack!" Rose exclaimed. 

 

The time lord and the former time agent both laughed. But the time lord's smile fell much more quickly than Jack's, "No, we don't," he told them, "I don't want to leave them behind. Like I told you, Jack, I can't leave them. It's too soon. So seven hours, like what they're getting." 

 

Rose reached a hand out, and took his, interlacing their fingers as she leaned into him, "So where, then?" She asked, nudging him lightly, "Come on, you've traveled before, you must have somewhere in mind."

 

The Doctor looked down at her, a soft smile appearing on his face as he watched her bite her lip in anticipation. He thought for a moment as he looked into her eyes, then it came to him, and he rushed to the other side of the console. Rose ran with him, not letting go of his hand until he let go of hers in order to fly the ship. 

 

Jack ran around to the other side of the console to join them, then he and Rose watched in delight as the centerpiece of the console moved up and down, and the ship shook as they entered the time vortex. They clung onto the console as they bounced about, but neither of them complained. It wasn’t every day a human got to travel in a Tardis, much less, one of the last Tardises in the universe. The Doctor’s hands continued to move about the console, pulling this, and pressing that until they stopped rattling about, and the room was quiet except for the ship’s hums.

 

The Doctor swiftly moved around to the console monitor, and looked intently at what was on the screen. It appeared to just be a series of circles, and his companions eyes held confusion in them as they walked up behind him to see what was on the screen.

 

“Doctor, what’s that?” Rose asked, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, “… The um, circle things, I mean.”

 

Another grin, “Gallifreyan,” he answered excitedly, then he burst away from them, and dashed toward the doors, “It’s telling us where we are, and that is…” as he finished his sentence, he opened the doors, allowing Rose and Jack a glimpse at where they had ended up.

 

Rose walked forward first, observing instantly the presence of what looked like a billion stars decorating the blackness of the night sky. Just where had the time lord taken them? She could only wonder as she walked closer to the doors, until she was right beside the Doctor, staring down at the Earth below them. “Oh my god,” she breathed, “That’s beautiful.”

 

The captain was quick to follow, and two seconds later, he too was staring down at the Earth and the stars. A laugh escaped his lips as he looked down at the oceans, the continents, and the endless clouds decorating the planet he and Rose currently called home. He’d seen this view before when he’d been with the time agency, but it wasn’t one he’d seen often, and it fascinated him. “Amazing,” he agreed.

 

Where they’d materialized, they were facing the side of the Earth that was rotating into night, and they could just barely make out the continent of Africa as it rotated into the dusk. Where they’d just been standing minutes earlier in Rose’s flat was still covered in daylight, but the line of darkness was slowly but surely creeping toward it. It was one of the most magnificent sights Rose had ever seen. She wasn’t entirely certain she ever wanted to leave.

 

“Wait, where’s the moon?” Rose asked, interrupting the magical moment, causing the other two to laugh.

 

“Right here, sweetheart,” Jack teased, smacking his own ass. This time his friends actually laughed at his flirtatious joke.

 

The Doctor sighed as the laughter began to die down, and he pointed behind them, “It’s behind us, actually,” he told them, stepping forward so he was on the edge of the ship, “And if you just lean out a little…” He gripped the door frame on the right, and stuck one foot out in order to pivot on the other as he turned himself out of the ship, and leaned out facing away from the Earth.

 

“Doctor!” Rose cried, worried that he would fall.

 

He didn’t, and instead he let out a laugh of delight, “Oh, I’ve missed this,” he said softly, then he leaned back inside, and faced them, “You can look if you want. Perfectly safe. This ship has a gravity field. You could fall out and be just fine.”

 

Rose’s eyes widened slightly, “You serious?” she asked, stepping forward. He moved out of the way in order to make room for her, and stood beside Jack as she repeated the same motion he did earlier, leaning out to see the moon. He grinned when he heard her laughter, and caught her as she swung back inside, allowing Jack a chance to see.

 

“That was fantastic!” she said excitedly, “It’s so much bigger from here.”

 

The Doctor grinned, “It used to be that close, you know,” he told her, “Back in the old days.”

 

“It’s beautiful,” she breathed, “I love it.”

 

“Me too.”

 

Rose reached for his hand again, and with her other one she caressed his cheek, leaned in, and gave him a brief kiss, “Thank you,” she whispered softly as she pulled away.

 

The sound of a throat clearing caught their attention, and they looked at Jack like deer in headlights when they saw him leaning against the doorframe staring at them suggestively. “Don’t stop on my account,” he told them, walking back into the ship.

 

Rose blushed, then she followed the captain back to the console, pausing only to watch the Doctor close the doors, and run back to join them. He immediately went to the monitor, “Six and a half hours,” he muttered, then he turned to them, “Where do you want to spend them?”

 

“The moon,” Jack replied sarcastically.

 

The Doctor beamed at him, “Brilliant! Let’s go to the moon!”

 

Jack opened his mouth to protest that he was only joking, but the Doctor was already flying the ship to their new destination. Once again he and Rose held on to the console as they bounced about, flying rapidly through the time vortex, and landing with enough of an impact to nearly send them to the ground.

 

“Blimey, not the best pilot, are you?” Rose asked as she stood up straight, and brushed out the wrinkles in her shirt.

 

“Did you have to pass a test to fly this thing?” Jack questioned him, “And who the hell let you have it?”

 

The Doctor stared at them, “One, I’m an excellent pilot, B—no, sorry—two, I did, and I failed, and three, or C, I stole it. Bit of a thief back in the day.”

 

The two humans burst into laughter. “You… you failed your test, and stole a ship?” Rose asked between giggles, “Sounds like you.”

 

“You think you’re an excellent pilot?” Jack asked at the same time.

 

The Doctor crossed his arms, and began to walk away, “Oh, go ahead, insult the driver,” he muttered sarcastically, “Only took you to the moon, ungrateful apes.”

 

“Speaking of…” Rose began as she walked toward the doors, “Shall we?” she asked.

 

“Not without a spacesuit,” the Doctor told them, lifting up a piece of the grating that made up the floor, and hoping below deck for a moment. When he returned, he was carrying three orange brightly colored space suits, and he had a gleeful look in his eyes as he handed one to each of them.

 

A few minutes later the three of them were dressed in the obnoxiously colored suits, and once again Rose strode up to the doors, and looked back at them, “Shall we?” she repeated.

 

“We shall,” the Doctor replied, taking her hand, and pulling the doors open with his free one as they stepped out onto the surface of the moon, and gazed out at the American flag that had been placed there nearly forty years earlier.

 

They spent the next six hours exploring the space around the Tardis in their spacesuits. The time was spent exploring craters and walking in the footsteps left behind by those who had been there before. The Doctor had cringed when Jack messed up Neil Armstrong’s footsteps, and Rose had laughed so hard she’d fallen over in a cloud of moon dust.

 

By the end of it, they were exhausted, and they only had half an hour left. They returned to the Tardis covered in dust, and laughing hysterically. Rose collapsed against the railing leading up to the console, and held herself up as she bent over in a fit of laughter that made her sides hurt.

 

Jack only made things worse when he came up behind her and tickled her, causing her to let out a choked shriek mid-laugh.

 

The Doctor closed the doors, and leaned back against them as he watched with unabashed happiness. He had his ship back, he had friends, and he had acceptance from said friends. He wasn’t quite sure what he’d done to deserve this good fortune, but he didn’t want it to end. If he could’ve stayed there forever, he would have. But there was only twenty five minutes left. He couldn’t.

 

The smile slowly faded from his lips as he remembered that he had to return to the community. He had to face the hell inevitably waiting for him back in his new home.

 

His friends instantly picked up on the gloom that had settled over him, and Rose immediately walked back over to him, and placed a hand on his cheek, “It’s alright, Doctor,” she told him, “We’ll see you tomorrow, too. Right, Jack?”

 

Jack nodded, “Absolutely, wouldn’t miss it for the world,” he agreed.

 

The corners of the Doctor’s lips lifted slightly, but he couldn’t quite bring back the jubilant feeling he’d had a moment ago. “Thank you,” he told them, reaching a hand up to hold Rose’s, “Thank you for everything.”

 

“Welcome,” she replied, giving him her tongue in cheek grin.

 

The Doctor returned the grin, then he walked past them, and began to fly the ship back to Earth. The humans held on to the railings as they bounced about once again, and landed with a smaller bump than last time. This time they didn’t laugh.

 

“Where’d you land us?” Jack asked, walking toward the console with Rose by his side.

 

“Where I usually park her,” he told them, “Think you could take the vortex manipulator back?”

 

Jack nodded, “Yeah, of course,” he replied, “Wait, won’t it look weird if they don’t see you entering through the front gates? Aren’t they keeping track of who’s going in and out?”

 

The Doctor thought for a moment, then ran a hand through his hair, “I suppose you’re right,” he muttered, then he looked down at the little device on Jack’s wrist, “Do you mind?”

 

“Not at all,” he replied, entering in the coordinates, “Alright, hang on!”

 

Rose and the Doctor quickly placed their hands on top of it, and with the push of a button, they were on a street just two blocks from the community. Mercifully, it wasn’t a crowded street. There was no one walking down it since night had fallen, and no one wanted to be caught dead in a street that looked the way this one did. It had cracked pavement and a number of dumpsters lining it all the way to where it ended by a wall. It was truly more of an alley than a street, but they didn’t notice as they walked dizzily out of it, and turned toward the community.

 

Rose held the Doctor’s hand as they walked closer and closer until the gates of the time lord prison were visible, the barbed wire poking out into the open air visible even from a distance. The trio stopped about two hundred yards away from it, and they exchanged a few glances with each other.

 

“I guess this is where I leave you,” the Doctor said nervously, running his free hand through his hair. He let go of Rose’s hand, and he wrapped his arms around Jack, “See you tomorrow, then,” he added solemnly before he turned to Rose and sighed.

 

“Are you gonna be okay?” she asked quietly.

 

He shrugged, “Maybe, maybe not,” he replied, pulling her into a hug, “I’ll be fine,” he concluded, staring over her shoulder at the suddenly too large gate. Deciding he’d seen enough of it, he pulled away from the hug, and took her face in his hands before kissing her gently but passionately.

 

She responded to the kiss with the same level of passion, and let his lips caress hers until she was fairly certain she’d pass out from oxygen deprivation, then she pulled away, and he rested his forehead on hers. “Goodbye,” he whispered, pressing a kiss to her forehead before he walked away.

 

They watched in silence as he walked further and further away from them, occasionally sparing a glance back as he walked through the gates of the community, and back into confinement.


	8. The Plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long. I'm approaching the end of the semester, so I'm super busy, but come summer time (this'll probably be finished by then but still) I'll literally do nothing but write.

Rose and Jack headed back to Rose's flat after they dropped off the Doctor. Solemn expressions stayed locked on their faces as they locked the coordinates into the vortex manipulator, and placed their hands on the device before Jack pressed the button, and they were in the flat.

The blonde didn't speak for a moment, she just sighed, hoping that whatever was happening to the Doctor in the community was a grand total of nothing. She hoped with all of her might that it would be a quiet night for him, that the humans would leave him alone. She had a bad feeling he'd have no such luck.

Jack was quiet, too, but that was because he immediately headed for Rose's kitchen upon arrival, and began to raid the fridge. Rose had given him a slight glare, but with a charming smile he convinced her to let him, and a few moments later, the two of them sat on the family room sofa watching a late night talk show. Though it was typically something that made them laugh, they sat and watched in complete silence.

The only sound either of them could hear was that of Jack chewing his pizza. Another glare was given to him from Rose, and he promptly closed his mouth, and wiped sauce off of his bottom lip. "He's probably fine," Jack assured her, "It's not like they're gonna kill him."

She wasn't comforted by those words. Not in the slightest. "They might," she murmured in response, "Who knows what they'll do to them? Not just him, any of them. They're all in danger while they're there and there's nothing we can do about it." She let her head fall back against the sofa with a dramatic sigh, and felt Jack gently squeeze her hand a moment later.

Sparing a glance at Jack, she squeezed his hand back upon seeing his warm smile, and shifted so she was closer to him.

"They won't kill him," Jack reassured her, then his tone became teasing, "You haven't even had sex yet."

"Jack!" She cried, picking up a pillow and hitting him with it.

The former time agent laughed as he took the beating, and Rose hit him again, which only made him laugh harder.

"Seriously, what did you two do while I was gone?" Jack asked curiously, "... wait, did you...?"

She hit him with the pillow again, "No, you perve," she muttered, "We didn't. There was some snogging, though."

Jack snickered, "Just some snogging," he repeated, mocking her accent, "So you didn't see if there were other differences in human versus time lord Anatomy?"

There was another _THWACK_! as Rose hit him with the pillow once again, and the two laughed as their attention was once again brought to the screen before them.

They watched the Telly for another half an hour before Rose heard a group of male voices echoing down the hall, approaching her flat. She didn't think anything of it, until she heard her mother's voice with them, and the sound of the key slipping into the lock. She picked up the remote, and slammed her finger down on the power button before grabbing Jack's hand, and leading them straight into her bedroom.

Jack didn't question what she was doing as she eased the door shut at the very same moment her mum and the men entered the flat.

She pressed a finger to Jack's lips, and the two leaned against the door, keeping their ears pinned to the wooden structure as they struggled to listen to the conversation Jackie was having with four familiar voices.

"... but Jackie, just earlier today you were fine with our plans," Jason's voice protested, "You didn't want to partake in them, but you were fine with it. What's changed?"

Rose's eyebrows furrowed as Jackie was silent for a moment, just what did he mean, she'd been fine with it? Had her mother known what was going to happen to the time lords upon their release that day? What wasn't she telling her daughter?

"And I've had a change of heart, love," she replied, "I'm starting to think Rose was right. They're just people. They're just trying to live, and I think we've misunderstood them."

Rose could've cheered. They'd only had one chat that day, and already her mum had made so much progress. It was a welcome change from the Jackie that talked like the time lords were the scum of the Earth.

"Jackie, one of them hurt one of us earlier," mickeys voice told her, and Rose scowled, "Didn't you see it on the Telly?"

"I heard about it, yeah," Jackie replied, "But I also heard there were five attacks on them, and one of those attacks was done by you lot. Care to explain why you actually went out and hurt someone?"

Rose could practically hear the crickets chirping in the background when the silence fell over the group. It took all of her strength not to laugh as she looked up at Jack in awe of what her mum had said.

Jack quietly fist pumped, then they turned their attention back to the conversation, which had started to pick up again.

"Jackie, I wasn't involved," Mickey protested, "I swear. I went off and got coffee."

"But did you know what they were going to do to that man?"

"..."

"Answer me, Mickey Smith."

Terrified of a now angry Jackie Tyler, Mickey stuttered out a response, "Y-yes," he muttered, "I-i knew."

They could almost see Jackie's scowl through the door. "And you let them do it," she hissed, "In front of Rose, in front of everyone? Shame on you, the lot of you. I never meant for you to do any of that!"

Another silence fell over the group. Rose could only assume they were hanging their heads in shame. She was quickly proven wrong when Daniel laughed, and she heard a creaking sound in the floor as he stepped forward.

"Jackie, you must've been corrupted," he muttered, "Whatever they've done to you, we've already got a plan to make them pay for it. For everything they've done. We won't do it in front of your daughter this time, promise."

Jackie scoffed, "Just what the hell are you planning on doing, then?" She asked curiously.

"I can't tell you, Jackie, like Danny said, you've been corrupted," Jason replied.

The other men muttered their assent, and Jackie made a series of disappointed noises before she addressed them again, "Even you, Mickey?" She asked

More silence. Mickey must've been too ashamed to admit which side of this he stood on. Rose sighed, and closed her eyes as she realized what Mickey was going to say before he even opened his mouth.

"I'm sorry, Jackie," he replied, "I'm gonna be there this time."

Jackie sighed, "Guess I can't stop you then," she muttered, and the floor creaked again as she took a few steps, and there was a pause before she spoke again, "So what's this plan? What are you lot gonna do?"

"After our little encounter with the blue suited bastard, we met a group of them," Jason explained, an Rose's mouth twitched into a grimace, "Good dozen or so red buttons, told them we were friends. Told them we were going to meet them at a certain address tomorrow. Ah, can't tell you where, Jackie. Corrupted, remember? Anyway, they'll meet us there, and we're going to put them all down."

Rose gasped audibly, and threw her hand over her mouth. Jack was fighting back a gasp of his own when she looked up, and the two of them exchanged a horrified glance. Putting them down... she had a feeling that didn't just mean they were going to get a beating.

She could hear Jackie swallow in the silence that followed. Apparently what Jason had said had been too much for even her to stomach. "Jason, you're actually going to kill people?" She asked worriedly, "That's... Jason that's... that's too far."

Rose felt panic rise within her. She knew this wouldn't affect the Doctor, but if the plans Jason and the others had were carried out, there would be a dozen dead time lords the next day.

"It'll send a message, though," Jason said, "They don't belong here. They need to pack up, and go back to mars where they came from."

Rose felt tears rise to her eyes. It wasn't fair. They'd only come here looking for a home, and now they were going to get murdered for it. Just because they lost their own planet. Because they'd had no where else to go.

It wasn't fucking fair.

Rose felt an anger rise within her that she'd never felt before, and without thinking she reached for the door knob, and threw the door open, rushing at Jason and his group without warning. She ignored Jack's protests as she walked straight up to Jason, and gave him a famous Tyler slap across the face.

"Rose!" Jackie cried, unbelieving of what her daughter had just done. Though there was also a hint of pride behind the look on her face. She'd never admit it, but she enjoyed watching her daughter slap Jason into another universe.

Rose panted as she came down from her enraged high, watching in grim satisfaction as Jason slowly turned back towards her. She'd slapped him so hard his entire body had turned to the right in an attempt to keep himself balanced. "They're fucking _people_!" She cried, "They are people, and you're going to just bloody _murder_ them?! That's wrong! That's _inhumane_!"

Jason rubbed at his cheek, "They're not human, Rose!" He shouted at her, stepping forward so he was towering over her, "They're aliens. They're a bomb that's waiting to go off. We've got to get them out of here before they hurt us."

"They won't hurt us!" Rose cried, "They're just as human as we are! You've seen them, you studied their anatomy fairly closely when you took my friend into a fountain, and beat him to a pulp! You could've bloody killed him, and he's innocent! He feels terrible that he brought his people here because of what people like you are doing to the time lords! It is all _you_ , it isn't them! It's _you_!" She shoved him backwards as she finished her sentence, her hair falling into her face as she moved. She brushed it back, then turned to face mickey, "And you," she breathed, tears falling from her eyes as she looked at him, "You're one of my _best_ friends. How could you do this? How can you look another person in the face, and take their life? Mickey, I know you, you're better than this."

Mickey stayed silent, but a contemplative look appeared on his face. Clearly he was taking what she'd said to heart. "I don't _know_ anymore, Rose," he whispered, "It's a different world, I don't know."

Rose swallowed nervously, and fought back more tears as she looked away from Mickey, "Guess so," she replied, "Please don't do it. If you ever cared for me in any way, don't do it."

Mickey said nothing, and Rose's hand reunited with her mouth as she fought back another shocked gasp. She backed away, and found herself in Jack's arms, unable to look back at him, wondering why one of her best friends had suddenly betrayed her. It hurt more than anything.

She'd grown up with Mickey. She'd been there for him through thick and thin. She was there for him when his gran died, and he'd been there for her when she'd gone through the Jimmy Stone fiasco. They'd been through so much together. She thought she knew him, but it would seem she didn't. She could never have anticipated this.

"I think you need to leave," Jackie told the men before them, "Right now," she hissed, "Get the hell out of my flat."

One by one, the men shuffled out, Mickey being the first to go, and Jason being the last. The last man to leave stayed behind a moment, and looked back at Rose, "Don't think about doing anything stupid to try and stop us," he warned her, "You can't." With that, he turned, and followed the others out of Jackie's flat.

Rose let go of Jack, and ran up to the door, slamming it shut behind the evil men, letting them know with her firm gesture that they weren't welcome. Bad things would happen to them if they ever rteturned. Rose wasn't sure if she was capable of doing those bad things, but she was certainly fine with leaving an empty threat hanging in the air.

As soon as the door was shut, she turned and faced Jack, "We've got to warn them," she said urgently.

Jack raised his eyebrows, "How?" He asked, "We don't know which time lords he's targeting."

Rose thought for a moment, then she perked up, "The Doctor," she said, "We tell the Doctor tonight, and he can tell the others... spread the word throughout the camp. They can stop this."

"Speaking of... what happened to asking them to back off, Jackie?" the captain asked.

Jackie sighed, "I tried, that's what sparked the conversation you walked in on," she explained, "They weren't listening. So I played along, well, I tried to until I just couldn't anymore. Murder was too far. I couldn't even pretend to be okay with it."

Rose sighed, "This is a nightmare," she breathed, running a hand through her hair, "We've got to tell the Doctor now."

"How are you gonna tell him?" Jackie asked, "They don't let humans into the community at any hour of the day, much less the middle of the bloody night."

Jack and Rose looked at each other, then the captain approached her mother, and rested a hand on her shoulder, "Jackie, you'll want to sit down," he warned her, grateful when the elder Tyler complied, then he took a breath, "Remember how the time lords can travel through time?"

"Oh my god," Jackie breathed, "You're an alien, too?"

Jack almost laughed, "No, no, Jackie," he replied, "Anyway, they're not the only ones. One day in the future, people will be able to, too..."

Jackie looked confused at first, but then her eyes widened as she caught on, "You're not..." she whispered, "Oh, you're kidding me..."

"I'm from the future, Jackie," he told her, rolling up his jacket sleeve to reveal his vortex manipulator, "And this is how I get around, and now, it's going to be how we save the time lords." He turned to Rose, and began to input coordinates into the manipulator, "Ready?"

She gave him a nod, "Ready," she replied, placing her hand on top of the manipulator, "Mum, don't panic," she added when she saw he confusion still evident on Jackie's face.

"Why would I—?" Jackie started to ask, but then Jack pressed the button on the vortex manipulator, and in a quick blur of motion, they were in the storage closet collapsing against the Tardis.

Rose took a deep breath in as she got her bearings, and gently pushed herself off of the Doctor's ship in order to stand upright. "Now what?" She asked Jack, barely able to see him in the darkness. The only light in the room was the dim glow of the Tardis lights, which wasn't much.

Jack thought for a moment, then he frowned, "There's one big problem with our plan, Rose," he observed.

"What's that, then?"

"We don't know where the Doctor's room is."

"...Oh..."

"Shit."

"What do we do now?"

"Um..."

They stood in silence for a moment, contemplating their next move. Rose leaned against the Tardis, and her hand fumbled at the door's opening, but it didn't budge. She sighed knowing they were stuck. The only other choice they had was to wait for the Doctor to come down there the next day and they'd tell him then, but by that point it would be too late. The time lords Jason, Mickey, Daniel and their friends were set on killing would be dead.

It was truly a now or never situation. They had to find the Doctor right then and there, and they had to avoid getting caught. Humans could barely handle the time lords. What the hell would they do if they discovered Jack's futuristic technology?

"I've got nothing," Jack muttered bitterly, "We're stuck here. He could be in any one of these rooms." With an angry grunt, Jack turned, and banged his head lightly against the Tardis doors.

Rose leaned against them as well, but she didn't turn away from the door. In fact, she trained her eyes on it intensely, for in that moment she could hear footsteps approaching the closet, and she tapped Jack on the shoulder as the footsteps got closer. "Enter the coordinates of my flat," she whispered, "It could be the guard."

Jack reached over to enter in the coordinates, but it was too late, the door knob turned, and the door was pushed open. If it had been a member of the guard, they would've been screwed. They would've been caught and arrested then and there. But it wasn't the guard. The man standing before them was a welcome sight. It was the Doctor.

"Doctor," Rose breathed, placing a hand over her chest as relief washed over her, "Thank god."

A brief smile made its debut on the time lord's face, then it quickly disappeared as he looked at his friends, and walked into the closet with them, shutting the door behind him. "What the hell are you doing here?" He asked quietly.

Jack covered the vortex manipulator with his sleeve, "Think we could talk in there?" He asked, gesturing to the Tardis with his head, "I don't want to risk the guard hearing us down here."

The Doctor shrugged, and moved past them to unlock his ship, "Don't see why we couldn't talk out here," he mumbled, "They hardly patrol this floor anyway." Despite the statement, he pushed the door open, and ushered them inside before he shut the door behind them, and turned to face them. He leaned back against the doors and crossed his arms as he spoke, "What's going on?"

Rose gulped nervously, not liking the memory of the men promising to murder a dozen time lords in her flat, "Jason," she said quietly, "He and his gang, the people that..." she gestured to him, to the bandage that still adorned his forehead, "Did that to you... they're planning something... something else." She took a few shuddering breaths, recalling the intimidating way Jason had stepped forward and towered over her after she'd slapped him. The way he'd threatened her if she did anything to stop him. At least he didn't know she had a secret weapon. She had a way to warn them.

The Doctor frowned, "What do you mean?" He asked, "What are they planning?"

"Murder," Jack stated bluntly, "They're going to murder a dozen time lords. They befriended them, told them to meet them at some address, they didn't say where, or who they're meeting, but they're going to kill them."

The Doctor paled, and he looked at them in disbelief. They could see it in his eyes that he knew it was true, though. "I..." the Doctor started, "Why? When?"

"Tomorrow," Rose replied, "Jason said they were doing it because they wanted to let you know that you're not welcome here. They wanted to give you a reason to go back to Mars, he said. I slapped him there and back at some point during the conversation."

A hint of a smile twitched at the corner of the Doctor's lips, but his expression remained shocked and hurt. "It could be anyone," he breathed, running a hand through his chestnut hair, "A dozen needles in a six hundred person haystack..." he paused, "Or maybe not..."

"Doctor?" Rose asked confusedly.

"The Master," he breathed, "Earlier he was telling me he'd met some friends. Said that maybe I was right, humans weren't so bad after all and he was meeting said friend tomorrow... I should've realized something was wrong..." he rubbed his face with his hands.

Rose walked forward, and laid a hand on his arm, "Its alright," she said softly, "You couldn't have known, and that's why we came here, so we could tell you, and we figured you could spread the warning throughout the camp... somehow. I guess all you have to do now is tell the Master, and then have him tell the other eleven not to go to the meeting place."

The Doctor sighed, and walked over to the bench, gently sitting down on it as he thought about what they'd just told him. "I knew they hated us," he muttered, "But murder? They're going to actually attempt to kill us?" He put his head in his hands, a pained look in his eyes as he stared down at the floor.

Jack and Rose approached him quietly, sitting down on either side of him on the small bench. "Don't blame yourself," Jack told the time lord, "Don't you dare."

The Doctor scoffed, a sound which almost sounded like a sob, "Its not my fault that most of my race is dead," he began, "That the remaining six hundred came here because of my suggestion, and that because of the hatred that arose from this planet because of my idea, a dozen more time lords are about to be lost."

"They won't be, though," Rose protested, "They'll know what's coming. They can plan ahead," she took one of his hands in hers, "And it isn't your fault, what's happened here. The humans made this choice, not you. You lot have been nothing but peaceful since the moment you came here. It isn't your fault. D'you hear me? It isn't your fault."

The Doctor swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing as she watched him look up nervously at the ceiling of the giant room, saying nothing. He still didn't believe that it wasn't his fault. It seemed at this point that he never would. He'd always believe it was his doing, every last detail of the miserable seven weeks the time lords had spent on earth thus far had been his fault. It wasn't fair to him. He didn't deserve that burden.

Rose let go of his hand, and wrapped both of her arms around his waist, sighing contentedly when he returned her embrace a moment later.

"I'm scared for them," the Doctor confessed after a moment, "They don't know..."

Jack sighed, "I know, the time lords are innocent," he replied.

The Doctor shook his head, "Not the time lords, the humans," he replied, sending shock through his friends with his words, "There's one thing the time lords didn't tell you lot about. Just one thing. Rassilon made us swear keep it a secret no matter where in the universe we went."

Rose's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "What's that, Doctor?" She asked, "What haven't you told us?"

The Doctor thought for a moment, seeming to wonder if he could tell them, if he could trust them with the time lords' secret. Eventually, he must've decided he could, because he opened his mouth, and thoroughly surprised them with his words, "When a time lord is dying, there's this thing that happens," he confessed, "You might already know about it, Jack, being a former time agent and all. It's regeneration."

"Oh," Jack breathed, realising what the Doctor was saying, "You never mentioned...?"

"It was our safeguard in case anything went wrong," the Doctor told him, "If anyone tried to kill us, we'd change our face, go on the run as a new person. No one would be able to follow us because they wouldn't know what we'd done."

Rose's mouth had fallen open slightly, "What do you mean, change your face?" She asked.

"When we regenerate, everything changes," the Doctor explained, "And it's not exactly a peaceful process. It can be explosive, violent... I know my last one toward the end of the time war... I was in this shed... the-the energy tore it apart, and by the end of it, I had this lovely face, so I'm not complaining. Didn't fancy getting shot by a dalek, though, don't like that."

"You... what?" She asked, bewildered by what he was telling her, she looked him up and down, "Are you alright?"

The time lord gave her a nod, "I'm fine now," he replied, gesturing to his chest where he must've been shot, "See? All because of regeneration. Little trick that lets us cheat death. This is actually the tenth face I've had, Rose Tyler."

Her eyes widened, and she looked over him once again, eyes wandering over everything from his converse clad feet, to his amazing hair. It was hard to imagine him looking any other way, but there was no trace of a joke in his eyes. He was serious. Time lords actually did that. They really changed their faces.

"Okay," she said plainly, accepting the truth, and moving on, "So why would the humans be hurt?"

"Remember what he said about regeneration being explosive?" Jack asked.

Rose nodded.

"That's why," He replied.

Rose's eyes widened, "Okay, so we've really got to warn them. Somehow. Doctor, as soon as we're done here, you've got to find the Master, tell him what's happening. Jack and I will try and stop the humans one more time, I figure it's worth a shot, right?" She turned to Jack.

The Captain grinned, "Can't say this is going to work," he replied, "But like you said, worth a shot." He looked at the Doctor, "You ready?"

The Doctor looked at him solemnly, "Yeah," he replied, "There's been enough death, time to change that." He stood up, and faced his friends, "Well, we haven't got time to waste, even with all of these time machines."

Rose grinned, then she and Jack stood up, and she wrapped her arms around him in a hug, "Good luck," she breathed.

"You too," he replied, returning the embrace, wrapping his arms around her waist, and pulling her tightly against him as if he never wanted to let her go.

She pulled away slightly, and her eyes fell to his lips, "Jack?" She asked cheekily.

"Yeah?"

"Turn around," she replied, bringing her lips to the Doctor's as the Captain laughed harder than she'd ever heard him laugh. She didn't know if he ever actually turned around as she passionately kissed the Doctor, wrapping her arms around his shoulders as he kissed her back.

The time lord smiled into the kiss, his hands gripping her back as he pulled her flush against him. Rose could sense the fear radiating off of him. It didn't take a genius to know that he was scared that their plan wouldn't work, the humans and time lords would still slaughter each other. She held onto the hope that it would work out, and maybe he did too, but there was certainly a part of him that didn't believe it. That believed everything would go south, and the worst would happen.

She tried to provide him reassurance in her kisses, not pulling away until Jack cleared his throat. They both giggled as they pulled away from each other, eyes still locked on one another as they moved further and further apart until they were no longer touching.

"I'll see you later, yeah?" Rose asked quietly.

"Yeah," he replied in the same hushed tone, then he looked over at Jack, "Good luck, captain."

The Captain gave him a salute, "You too, Doctor," he replied, then he began to enter coordinates into his vortex manipulator, "Rose?"

The blonde gave the Doctor one last kiss on the cheek, then she ran over, and placed her hand on the manipulator. Jack pressed the button, and they were off, ready to stop the inevitable battle at any cost. 


	9. No Luck

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, we're nearing the tail end of this fic, I've probably only got about three or four more chapters to go... So here goes the beginning of the end.

The Doctor raced down the corridor on the floor the Master’s room was located on, a panic rising within him as he banged on the door, hoping his friend was awake. “Open up!” he whisper-shouted, “It’s me!”

There was no answer, and the time lord banged against the door once again. This time more urgent than the last. His head swiveled this way and that as he kept his eyes peeled for signs that the guards were approaching him. If they caught him outside of his room so late in the evening… They hadn’t exactly given the time lords a curfew, but he didn’t want to find out what the Captain of the guard would think of his late night wanderings.

“Please,” he begged through the door, “I know you’re in there, you haven’t got anywhere else to go. Talk to me.”

A moment later, his friend finally appeared at the door, a slightly sleepy look in his eyes as he stared out at the Doctor, “What the hell are you doing here?” he asked, “It’s late.”

The Doctor scoffed as he pushed past him, “Don’t act tired, we don’t need sleep most nights,” he muttered, sitting down on the edge of the Master’s unmade bed, “We need to talk.”

The Master crossed his arms, and leaned back against the wall, “About what?” he asked, “If this is a ‘I was right’ speech, I don’t want to hear it. I get it, humans aren’t awful, and I shouldn’t have overreacted the other night at the dance.”

“You shouldn’t have,” the Doctor agreed, nodding slowly, “But I was wrong. The particular humans you met? They’re not your friends. They’re here to hurt you. Don’t meet them tomorrow.”

The other time lord’s eyes widened, “How’d you…?” he asked.

“The human woman I was with the other night, her mum’s friends with them,” he explained, “Was friends with them, anyway. They’ve got plans. They’re not going to show up tomorrow for a drink, they’re going to try to kill you. So for both species’ sakes, I’m asking you not to go.”

The Master stared at him apprehensively, and stayed quiet for a moment before he burst into laughter. He glanced away from the Doctor, and seemed to calm down, but when he looked at his friend again, the laughter began anew. It carried on for a good minute longer than either of them deemed necessary before the Master finally stood up straight, and stared at the Doctor with a gleeful grin on his face, “Oh, that’s fantastic,” he hissed, “Bloody fantastic! They’re going to try to murder us? _Us?_ Hoo, hoo,” he let loose another round of laughter, “They don’t know what’s coming for them.”

The Doctor nodded, “Exactly, that’s why you can’t go,” he told them, “They will die, and you will regenerate. Believe me, you don’t want to. And what are they going to do to us after they discover we can regenerate, hmm? They’ll treat us even worse! It’ll be this, but I suspect they’ll actually turn to regular abuse knowing that we can’t actually die. It will be hell on Earth.”

“Oh, Doctor, it already is,” the Master said exasperatedly, “Can’t you see the shit they’ve put us through already? The shit they’ve put _you_ through?”

“It doesn’t matter what they’ve done to me.”

“Like hell it doesn’t. I’ve seen the way it affects you. That defeated look on your face every time you face the captain of the guard. Just once, wouldn’t you like to him to suffer what we’ve suffered? Wouldn’t you like to see some justice done for us?”

“Not like that,” the Doctor breathed, shaking his head, “You know me. I could never want justice like that. And more so _, that_ isn’t justice, that is _vengeance!_ ”

“And you know me, Doctor,” the Master replied, “I could entirely want justice like that. You said they wanted to murder us? Why don’t we let them? Their deaths? That’s a cause I could regenerate for.”

The Doctor stood, and stepped angrily towards his friend, hoping to Rassilon he could convince his friend not to do what he was planning, not to step head first into a massacre, “Please,” he breathed, calling the Master by his true name, “I’m begging you not to. Don’t add more casualties to the already never ending list of the dead.”

They stood there for another tense moment, staring each other down as each tried to convince the other to take their side. “Don’t,” the Doctor begged again, “If we just wait a few more weeks, they’ll let us go. Just a little while longer.”

The Master laughed again, “And there’s a very strong maybe hidden in that sentence,” he told the Doctor, “It’s well hidden, but I can hear it in your voice. We know each other too well. Well enough to know each other’s true names.”

“Don’t. I’m telling you, don’t.”

Another wicked laugh, then the Master pushed past him, and the Doctor stared at him in anticipation, “Well?” he asked, “Will you?”

“I’ll think about it, Doctor,” he replied, “For now, I’d like to get back to sleep. If you wouldn’t mind shutting the door on your way out.”

“Master,” the Doctor muttered, “Answer me.”

“I said I’d think about it.”

“At least tell me who else was with you.”

“Still thinking, Doctor.”

The Doctor stared at him in disbelief, “I can’t believe this,” he muttered, “You know, we used to be best mates, you and me. Back on Gallifrey. You were my best friend. What the hell happened to you?”

“I got old,” the Master replied.

“So did I, but I’m not considering murdering people.”

“What like you were going to murder our entire species before the council stepped in?”

They froze in place for a moment. Neither one of them breathed as the silence solidified between them. The Doctor didn’t know much, but he could tell somewhere in the Master’s mind that he’d known he’d gone too far. He couldn’t respond to the Master’s comment. He’d been entirely correct. The time lord had been ready to end all of them in order to stop the war. He would’ve done anything. If the council hadn’t reached him first…

The Doctor said nothing to his former friend, he simply turned on his heels and strode out the door, not even bothering to check if the guard was patrolling the floor. He got lucky this time, they weren’t, and he managed to make it to the stairwell successfully. Walking, not running up the stairs, he made it to the stairwell door where he stopped, peering through the small window to see the captain of the guard followed by two members as he walked in a military fashion down the corridor.

He swallowed nervously, then he stood there with his palms pressed against the door as he waited for the captain to turn down the next corridor out of sight before he finally slipped through, and headed down into the next patrol area.

As soon as the captain and the two guard members were out of sight, the Doctor opened the door, and rushed down the hall to his room. His hands were reaching for the key in his pocket when he heard a sound that made his blood run cold. It was the sound of a man clearing his throat. He had a sinking feeling he knew exactly who, too.

The time lord stood at attention, then he turned to face the captain, who was a mere ten feet from him. Oh, he was in trouble. The look on the human man’s face was stern, and a bit angry with a bit of glee mixed in. If there was one thing the captain liked to make sport of, it was certainly the Doctor’s misery. It wasn’t likely he’d get out of this encounter without some sort of punishment.

“Captain,” he said pleasantly, “I trust you’re having a nice evening?”

The captain held no such pretense of pleasantry, and immediately crossed the space between himself and the Doctor with a series of march-like steps. He then stared down at the time lord, an impressive feat, given the captain was almost exactly the time lord’s height, but the ferocity of the stare was one of a man who was twice the size of the Doctor.

“What are you doing outside, John?” the captain asked, snarling the Doctor’s Earth given name through his teeth after a moment of staring at the time lord like he was an insect he wanted to crush.

“Took a bit of a walk,” the Doctor confessed, scratching the back of his head, “As far as I was aware, there was no specified curfew for when we had to be in our rooms.” It was the truth. As far as he’d been aware there was no such rule preventing him from being outside of his room at this hour of the night.

The captain gave him a grim smile, “Ah, as far as you knew,” he replied, “Well, Doctor, suppose I could just let you go, then.” He looked to both of his guards, and gave them wicked grins, “What do you say boys? Shall we let him go, or remind him that time lords don’t get to make their own rules on _our_ planet?”

“Captain,” the Doctor breathed in protest, knowing the gruesome plan that was forming in his adversary’s eyes, “It’s late, let’s not do this. It’ll wake the others. They don’t need to hear it. Please, for their sakes…”

“I like this false pretense you have of selflessness, Doctor,” the man admitted, “But lying is so unbecoming on a young man such as yourself.”

The Doctor could only hope he was hiding the fear in his eyes as the captain stepped back, and the guards stepped forward menacingly. He swallowed the anxiety building within him as he pressed himself against the door, and closed his eyes, hoping he could stand as he took whatever punishment they were about to dish out.

The first guard slammed his fist into the Doctor’s gut, recreating one of the newly yellow bruises that had been left by Jason earlier that day. Another landed on his jaw, and the time lord spat out blood, not bothering to turn back to face. He grunted in pain a few times but said nothing, not wanting to give the captain the satisfaction of seeing him writhe under his control. Like earlier with Jason, there was barely any time for him to register the pain of each individual punch before the next one was landed, and the suffering began anew.

It wasn’t fair. All the suffering he’d already endured just to have this happen to him. It wasn’t fucking fair. He could feel the walls he’d put up during the war crumbling around him as he took the beating. The temptation to break down then and there was overwhelming, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to do it. He hadn’t reached his breaking point yet, but there was nothing he could do to bring an end to the assault.

All he could do was try to make as little noise as possible so as to not wake up the other time lords. They didn’t need to know what was happening. Contrary to the captain’s beliefs, he was being selfless as the pain intensified, and he winced when he let out another pained grunt as the guard landed a kick right where his diaphragm was. “Stop,” he whispered, reeling from having the wind knocked out of him.

They didn’t, they simply ignored him, and continued their assault, adding kicking him in the shins to their resume before the captain finally ordered them to stop, “Alright, I think he’s learned a lesson,” the wicked man said, waving them off. The two men finally backed off, and left the Doctor standing weakly against the door, leaning heavily against it for support, trying to hide the lump growing in his throat.

The captain stared down the Doctor, “Just remember that next time you feel like making your own rules,” he growled, then he turned to his men, “Come now, let’s continue our patrol,” he told them, then they continued their military walk down the corridor, leaving the wounded Doctor behind. This time he didn’t have Rose and Jack to take care of him.

Nearly letting out a yelp of pain, the Doctor tried to stand, but immediately collapsed back to the floor as he fought back a scream. He was fairly certain they’d broken one of his ribs, the pain from this particular attack certainly felt that intense, and he suppressed a series of whimpers as he reached for the key to his room, which had fallen to the floor at some point during his encounter with the captain.

How deeply he resented that man astounded him. He wasn’t quite sure how many people he’d ever managed to hate as much as the captain, but it wasn’t a particularly long list. This man had only made it on it in the last five minutes. The throbbing bruises he’d indirectly inflicted served as an ongoing reminder of why as he weakly stood, supporting himself on the door frame.

The time lord’s hands shook as his hands fumbled for the door handle behind him, inserting the key into the lock, then opening the door before he stumbled in. He barely shut the door behind him before he collapsed just inside of the room. He cried out in pain as he hit the floor, his injuries still so fresh from the beating he’d received outside. “Damn it!” he shouted, feeling the lump in his throat cause tears to form in his eyes.

He’d built up those failing shields ages ago. The war had taught him just how to hide his most intense emotions, but everyone had their breaking point. After all he’d experienced, he hadn’t thought it’d be that moment in the corridor, he’d almost felt it then, too, but he’d been wrong. The latest encounter with the captain had easily been his worst. The Doctor fought back a sob, bringing his hands weakly to his face, and wiping away his own tears as he tried to force himself to stand up and walk to his bed.

A strangled sob managed to escape his lips as he stood, finally feeling the full force of the pain. It hurt even worse than the attack from Jason earlier. He could only hope that Jason and his friends didn’t plan on inflicting that same pain on the Master and the other time lords the next day when they faced off. He was almost certain that he hadn’t been able to stop it, and a part of him feared that Rose wouldn’t be able to either. The very idea that anyone else had to suffer what he’d just gone through was sickening, and he was again reminded that there had been four other attacks on time lords that day beside the one done to him.

That on top of the physical pain he was already feeling made the Doctor ache even worse as he pushed himself step by step towards the bed, collapsing on top of it. He didn’t care that the white sheets were now stained with blood from the punches he’d taken to the face. All he could think about was what had happened to get him there, what had happened for him to wound up bloody and bruised on a hotel bed on Earth with no one to talk to.

Rose and Jack may have tried their damndest to convince him otherwise, but he knew it was his fault. He’d chosen this planet. The others may have agreed, but he’d suggested Earth. It had been his fault. No one else’s but his. He deserved exactly what he’d gotten.

This time actual sobs left his throat, and the time lord’s fists clenched the white sheets as he buried his face in them, and poured out his emotions into his bed. “I’m sorry,” he whispered to no one, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…”

**Meanwhile in the Powell Estate…**

Rose and Jack arrived just outside Jason’s door. The sound of rowdy male voices echoed down the halls of the flat building. The blonde rolled her eyes before she exchanged an uncertain glance with the captain. The time traveler gave her a nod, and with a nervous gulp, she knocked on the door three times, then she stepped back and waited patiently for her new least favorite neighbor to show his face at the door.

After a moment, they could hear footsteps approaching, then the sound of Mickey’s voice, “Is it the pizza man?” he asked, then they heard the sound of a hand landing on the door as someone peered through the peep hole, “No way.”

“Mickey, please,” Rose begged, “Let me in, trust me, you’ll want to.”

“Rose, you can’t stop him, he’s going to go through with it.”

“Maybe I can stop _you_ , then,” she said hopefully, staring up at him in anticipation, “Mickey, please, let us in, you’ll want to hear what we have to say.”

“What have we got to say?” Jack asked under his breath. Neither one of them had given much thought to what they’d tell the humans about their plans for the time lords. They couldn’t tell them about regeneration. That was the Gallifreyans’ secret to keep.

The blonde gave him a shrug, “I don’t know,” she whispered, “But we’ve got to try something. We promised the Doctor.”

 

Mickey looked at the two of them, contemplating letting them in. Eventually he stepped back, and allowed his friends entrance to Jason’s flat.

 

Instantly Rose noted the smell of beer coming from Jason’s kitchen. The sound of men laughing followed soon after, and a series of vague shouts of victory. Whatever was going on in there, Rose didn’t reckon it was anything good. She suspected it had everything to do with the plans they’d told Jackie about earlier in the Tyler’s flat. She gulped anxiously as she walked into the kitchen, spotting Jason in seconds with a gleeful smile on his face. Oh how she wanted to slap it off of him.

 

That smarmy smile was instantly gone when Jason’s eyes landed on Rose. She quirked an eyebrow at him and leaned against the wall as she waited for his response to her presence in the room. “No,” he growled, “Get her out of here! Mickey, what the hell?”

 

“She’s got something to say,” Mickey protested, “I figured it was worth hearing before we… I know they’re not human, Jason, but it’s still serious what you’re thinking of doing.”

 

“What _we’re_ thinking of doing, Mickey,” Jason corrected him, “We.”

 

Rose stepped forward, “All I want to do is talk,” she told Jason, then her eyes scanned the room, staring at each and every one of his crew, “I want to try one last time to convince you not to do this. You could get hurt.”

 

“Don’t worry, love, the only one’s getting hurt will be them,” Daniel explained from his position on a nearby barstool. The others cheered, and raised bottles of beer in response.

 

“But they’re not stupid,” Jack warned them, stepping forward so he was by Rose’s side, “They’re so similar to us. They’ve probably got a fight or flight response, too, and what are you going to do if they choose to fight?”

 

“I’ll have a gun and a knife,” Jason replied, “What’ll they have, their fists?”

 

Rose shook her head, “No, worse,” she replied, unsure how to warn them about regeneration without telling them exactly what it entailed, “Alien biology, they’ve probably got some sort of defense mechanism against death.”

 

“Didn’t do ‘em much good in that war they claim to have had, did it?” Daniel asked cruelly, and the others laughed in a similarly wicked manner.

 

The blonde scoffed, “How can you be so cold?” she asked, not wanting to steer the conversation that way, but feeling the question slip from her lips before she could stop it, “How can you look another living thing in the eyes, and stop its hearts beating?”

 

Jason raised an eyebrow, “This argument again?” he asked, “Rose, need I remind you that they’re not from this planet. They can’t be trusted. All we’re doing is telling them to find somewhere bloody else.”

 

“Well, you’ve got a shit way of doing it, Jason,” Jack hissed, “Come on, don’t do this. You don’t want that blood on your hands, trust me.”

 

A laugh rang from the soon-to-be murderer, and he stared at Jack coldly as he took a few steps toward him. Soon enough, the two men were mere inches apart. Under any other circumstances, Jack would’ve been flirting left and right, but in that moment, he couldn’t think of a single pickup line. “What I don’t want is for some shitting American to walk into my flat and tell me what to do,” he snarled, “I don’t want you walking in here all high and mighty like you’re any better than me for not doing this, ‘cause let me tell you something, you’re not. I’m just doing what you could never have the guts to do. I’m doing what’s right.”

 

“How is this what’s right?” Rose asked, “How is any of this the right thing to do?”

 

“Jason, I promise you, if you go through with your plans tomorrow, you’ll regret it,” Jack warned him, still mere inches from Jason’s face.

 

“Was that a threat?” Jason asked, grabbing the lapels of Jack’s jacket.

 

The two men stared at each other intensely for a moment before the captain replied, “It was a promise,” and another round of heart stopping silence filled the room.

 

A good two minutes passed by before Jason finally figured out the perfect way to respond to Jack’s words, and at the end of the quiet that had passed over them, Jason’s palm made forceful contact with the captain’s cheek as he slapped him viciously. Jack’s entire body changed direction, and he put a foot out to steady himself before he could fall. Rose called out his name, and quickly rushed to support him as he slowly stood back up again.

 

“Real mature,” Jack growled, then he turned and looked at Jason apprehensively for a moment, “Rose, I don’t think we’re going to be able to change their minds,” he added, facing his blonde friend.

 

“But we…”

 

“We tried, Rose,” Jack replied, stepping forward so he was once again face to face with Jason, “He’s not moving. We can only hope the Doctor had more luck than we did.” The captain then did something no one in the room expected, he curled his fingers into a fist, and slammed them into Jason’s gut in a punch akin to the beating the Doctor had taken in the fountain earlier that day.

 

Jason cried out in pain, but he didn’t get a chance to retaliate Jack’s punch. As soon as Rose’s neighbor was bent over on the floor, Jack ushered them out of the flat, and they raced back down the hall toward the Tyler’s place. Neither one of them looked back as they ran, and Rose’s fumbling fingers nearly dropped the keys several times when it came time to unlock her door.

 

“I can’t believe you did that,” she whispered as she finally got the keys into the lock, “What were you thinking?”

 

“I wasn’t,” Jack confessed, “But I’d been wanting to do that since the fountain, so… I guess it just came out of me. I couldn’t stop it. I didn’t really want to, either.”

 

“If I’m being honest, I’m glad you did,” Rose confessed, shooting Jack a shy smile as she pushed the door open, “You gonna be okay at your flat… Or, wherever you’re staying?”

 

Jack nodded, but he stepped inside the flat with her anyway, “I’ll be fine, but what about you and Jackie?” he inquired, “Jason’s only a few doors down, and he could be following us. Lock the door.”

 

“Right, sorry,” Rose muttered, hurrying forward to the door to lock it. She reached it just in time, too. At that moment, they heard the sound of someone slamming into the door, then banging roughly against it with their fist.

 

“Rose Tyler!” Jason’s voice shouted, “Open this bloody door!”

 

Rose let out a shriek, then gasped as her hand flew to her mouth. That was stupid. She’d just given away that they were indeed in the flat. They could’ve potentially gotten away with having run somewhere else before, but that shriek… She could hear Jason’s laughter through the not-so-soundproof door to her flat, and she leaned worriedly against it.

 

“Ah, it’s no use love,” Jason breathed, “We’re heading out to Mickey’s flat now, or someone’s… You won’t be able to find us in time to stop us, Rose. I’m sorry it had to be like this. But they can’t stay here. You’ll see.”

 

Then Jason was gone, and Rose and Jack were left standing in an unbearable quietness. The only sound was that of their breathing, and in the silence they’d been left in, it was remarkably loud. “Shit,” Rose breathed after a while, “Shit, shit, shit.”

 

The blonde rushed over to the sofa, and sat with her head in her hands. Jack was quick to follow, and he placed a hand on her back as she breathed hard, staring only at the floor. “We tried, Rose,” he whispered, “We really tried.”

 

Rose shook her head, “We didn’t try hard enough,” she protested, “They’re all gonna die, and everything’s going to get worse. All because we couldn’t stop it.”

 

“No, all because they’re xenophobic pricks who can’t pull their heads out of their asses,” Jack retorted, earning him a weak laugh from the blonde he held in his arm.

 

Suddenly, they heard a door open from down the hall, and the lights flickered to life, illuminating the small space around them. Jack and Rose looked up to see Jackie in her pajamas, staring at them in drowsy confusion, “What the hell just happened?” she asked, yawning at the end of her question.

 

Rose sighed, “We failed, mum,” she said quietly, “We couldn’t stop them.”

 

Jackie’s eyes widened, and a hand clasped over her mouth, “Oh, no,” she whispered, “Oh… Rose I’m so sorry. Are you sure they’re still going through with it?”

 

Jack and Rose both gave her a nod, “Jackie, they’re determined,” he explained, “I tried, Rose tried, but they wouldn’t budge. Eventually things… escalated, and Jason wound up hitting me, I hit him back, and we just ran back to this flat as fast as we could. He followed us here and kept yelling at Rose… Now they’re off to god knows where to hide out so we can’t stop them.”

 

“Shit,” Jackie breathed, sitting down on the sofa beside Rose, who still looked incredibly distraught. She hadn’t even removed her head from her hands. She’d been in the same position since she’d sat down.

 

“We can only hope the Doctor had more success than we did,” she whispered, “If even one of our two species agreed not to show up to tomorrow’s blood bath, I’m sure…”

 

“I guess we’ll only know tomorrow, won’t we?” Jack asked solemnly.

 

Rose sniffled, then she nodded, “Yeah, tomorrow,” she replied softly, then she stood up, “I’m gonna go get some sleep. You should too. Mum, think Jack could take the sofa for the night?”

 

“I don’t see why not,” Jackie replied, then she too stood, and walked over to her bedroom, emerging a moment later with a throw blanket, and tossing it to the captain, “Hope you’re not too picky, love, cause that’s all I’ve got.”

 

Jack shook his head, “No, I’m not,” he replied, smiling kindly at Jackie, “This is fine. Thanks, Jackie.”

 

The elder Tyler returned the kind smile, “Good night then, you two, sleep well,” she told them, then she turned around, and shut off the lights before she went back into her bedroom, leaving Rose and Jack alone in the family room.

 

“Guess I’ll see you tomorrow morning, then,” Rose muttered, then she too turned to head toward her bedroom, but was stopped by the sound of Jack’s voice as he called out to her one last time.

 

“He’ll make it,” Jack assured her, “I’m sure the Doctor will do it.”

 

Rose nodded gloomily, “I’m sure he will too,” she whispered, not entirely certain she believed what she was saying to him, “Good night, Jack.”

 

“Night, Rose,” he replied as he threw the blanket over himself, and watched Rose walk back into her room with her head hung low.

 

Rose flopped onto her bed with a sigh, wondering just how everything had gone so wrong. It wasn’t meant to end like that. It was supposed to end with a, “I’m sorry, I won’t do it,” from Jason, and a reassurance from Mickey that he didn’t actually want to be a part of that. It had gone every direction she hadn’t wanted it to, and it broke her heart.

 

The blonde clutched at her sheets, and let an overwhelming feeling of sorrow take over her as she drifted slowly into sleep, hoping sincerely that the next day would be better, that somehow they could avoid the blood bath promised by Jason. Those hopes were horrifically shattered when she woke to the sound of the Tardis appearing in the corner of her bedroom, and blinked herself awake to see the doors ajar, providing a clear view into the console room of his ship. At first she was overjoyed, but the cruel awakening came when her eyes drifted to the floor, and landed on the unconscious and bruised body of the Doctor.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reviews would always be lit, thanks folks... y'all... people... whatever you say where you're from...


	10. Before the Storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jesus sinning christ it's been nearly three weeks since I updated this, and I'm so sorry for that, y'all. I had finals, and they were a bitch. I still don't know how I did on them, but I went from having nothing to do to being absolutely swamped with them, and other final projects. It was hell on Earth, but I started writing this the second I was done because I couldn't wait to send this story into it's final chapters. So here it is! I'm back and I'll update again in a few days once I move out of my dorm and all. Enjoy!

Rose woke up the next morning to the sound of the Tardis materialising in her bedroom, which struck her as odd, but she didn't protest. She was always happy to see the Doctor. To make the idea of seeing him even better, perhaps he'd come to tell her that he'd succeeded in preventing the Master from going to meet his new "friends."

 

She slowly sat up, and rubbed her eyes, wincing as she saw black smudges on the back of her hand. She must not have taken off her makeup the previous night like she'd thought. 

 

In front of her, she could hear the Tardis doors open as she stretched herself awake. The stretch stopped when she heard the sound of something heavy hitting the floor beside her bed, and instantly, she looked down to see the Doctor lying face down on her floor. 

 

"Doctor?" She called out softly, throwing her legs out from under the covers, and kneeling down beside him, "Are you all right?" She gently reached out a hand to stroke his hair, then she noticed the purple bruise on the side of his face, and her heart began to race as she realised he most certainly wasn't all right. 

 

When she called out his name a second time, it was a lot more desperate, and full of concern, "Doctor?" 

 

Gently, she reached out, and slowly, and with much effort, she turned him over to see the full extent of the damage. At least, whatever damage she could see that wasn't covered up by his clothes. 

 

He had two bruises on his face that she noticed straightaway. Both were various shades of blue and purple, both were rather large, and the area they covered had begun to swell slightly. The second thing she noticed was the small trail of dried blood leading from his lips down to his chin, the sight of which caused her to wince as she reached out a hand, and caressed his cheek. 

 

"I'm so sorry," she whispered softly, gingerly pressing a kiss to the time lord's forehead before she glanced up at the door, and cried out, "Jack!" 

 

There was no response, so she called the other time traveler's name again, "Jack!" She cried, "Come here, quick!"

 

The captain barely hesitated. And he was there within seconds, bursting through the door with gusto as he rushed into the room. Jack didn't miss the sight of the Tardis standing in the room, since he had to make extra effort to move around it to reach Rose and the newly injured Doctor. 

 

"Shit," Jack breathed, "What happened?"

 

Rose shook her head, "I don't know," she replied, "One minute I was sleeping, then the noise woke me up, and next thing I know, he's on the floor. They got him again, Jack, I don't know how, but they got him again." She gently stroked the Doctor's hair as she spoke, whispering sweet nothings to him as Jack knelt down behind them in the narrow space. 

 

"We've got to get him up onto the bed," Jack told her, "Make room for me." 

 

Rose obliged, and quickly moved as far to her left as she could in order to make room for Jack. The captain moved in beside her, and quickly reached out for the Doctor's shoulders. He'd begun to lift the time lord, when Rose reached out a hand to stop him, "Wait!" She protested, "What about his injuries? His face can't be all of it. He bloody passed out on my floor!"

 

Jack shook his head, "If he's passed out, he won't feel it," he reminded her, "And we can't just leave him here. Don't know about you, but I'm not the biggest fan of waking up on a hard floor after a fight."

 

"My floor's not hard," Rose muttered, but she helped him nonetheless, lifting one of the Doctor's shoulders as the two hoisted him onto her bed with effort. The Doctor groaned softly as they set him down on the mattress, causing Rose to wince before she and Jack moved to his feet, and slid his legs onto the bed as well. 

 

Rose quickly reached over, and grabbed a pillow, gently pulling his head up so she could rest it on top of the cushioned material. The faintest of whimpers left his lips, and his jaw clenched as she did so, letting Rose know that not only was he awake, but he was in tremendous amounts of pain. 

 

She let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding, and gently stroked his hair. "I'm so sorry," she whispered softly as Jack sat down on the bed beside her. 

 

"We need to see what they did to him," he said quietly, "If it's enough to make him like this..."

 

Rose sighed, "I almost don't want to know," she confessed, continuing to stroke the Doctor's hair with one hand, while working to undo his tie with the other, "I'm sorry."

 

The Doctor, though somewhat awake, kept his eyes closed as she slid his tie off, and Jack worked to undo the buttons of his jacket. He stayed still even as Rose's shaking fingers undid the buttons of his Oxford, and those same trembling fingers gently parted the shirt to reveal his bruised abdomen. The time lord didn't move until he heard Rose's gasp upon seeing his injuries. 

 

Slowly, he opened his eyes, which Rose didn't notice since she was too busy focusing on the blue and purple pattern before her, with some red mixed in where they'd even made him bleed, whoever they'd been. The bruises were scattered all down his rib cage, and onto his middle. Each was about the size of a large human fist, but they varied in their severity. Some looked fairly minor, and were already healing thanks to the Doctor's biology. Some weren't so little, and in one particularly swollen spot, Rose was fairly certain he'd broken a rib, but she couldn't tell. She wasn't exactly a doctor. 

 

Beside her, Jack was fuming, "I'm gonna make whoever did this pay," he snarled, clenching his fist tightly to resist hitting the nearest wall. 

 

"No," the Doctor's voice sounded weakly from beneath them, "Don't."

 

Rose's heart skipped a beat when she heard his voice, and instantly her hand reached up to caress his cheek with a cry of his name. The time lord smiled weakly, but the smile quickly faded into a pained expression, and for the first time she noticed the faint tear tracks that stained his cheeks. In all the chaos, she'd missed that one, tiny detail. She could only imagine what had happened to cause them. The only thing she knew for certain, was that he didn't deserve to have to cry those tears. 

 

"Hello," the Doctor said softly, his eyes drifting between the two of them as he took in several pained breaths, each one short and precise in its length. It clearly hurt him to even breathe. It seemed more and more likely that he'd broken a rib, a matter which both humans were lost on, wondering just how the hell they were going to help him this time. 

 

"Hey," Rose whispered, "What the hell happened to you?" She let a hand ghost over the Doctor's battered chest, grimacing at the sight of the ghastly blues and purples. 

 

The time lord groaned, "The captain doesn't like me," he explained, "He caught me outside of my room, and... he set his guards on me... I..." he paused, and closed his eyes as he swallowed before he kept speaking, "I couldn't stay there... I needed help, so I... I staggered back to the Tardis, and I went to the first place I could think of. Captain’s pretty sure I’m staying inside today. He gave me no reason to want to leave. He doesn’t know me at all."

 

“I’d say so,” Rose replied, “Did you manage to convince your friend not to show up?”

 

The Doctor sighed, “No, I tried, but all I got was this maybe that sounded a hell of a lot like a ‘I’m still going.’ He wants to make them pay for what they’ve done to us. It’s revenge, that’s how he sees it… I couldn’t convince him.”

 

Rose and Jack stared at each other anxiously, “We didn’t have much luck either,” Jack replied, “We tried, but they are dead set on killing them. We couldn’t even move Mickey.”

 

“I don’t know what to do, Doctor,” Rose said quietly, “Both sides are still going to this thing…”

 

The Doctor swallowed, “I’ll go,” he told them both, “I’ll try to stop them from killing each other, convince the Master one last time. Once this happens… Everything changes.”

 

“How the hell are you going to stop them?” Jack asked. 

 

“With charm and good looks,” the Doctor replied sarcastically, “I’ll think of something. I’m usually better at coming up with these things on the spot.”

 

Rose felt the corners of her lips twitch into a hint of a smile, but it quickly faded, "I'm so sorry," she told him, "If I'd known this was going to happen, I never would've..."

 

The Doctor shook his head, and took one of her hands in his, "It's not your fault," he replied, "That's a risk I take every time I leave my room. I'm just lucky it hadn't happened before."

 

She shook her head, "That's... that's terrible," she breathed, looking down at the injuries the captain's guards had inflicted upon him, and she looked between him and Jack a few times hesitantly, "What exactly can we do about this? It's worse than last time."

 

"Yeah, a lot worse," Jack agreed, "How long ago did this happen?"

 

The Doctor thought for a moment, "About two hours ago," he replied, "I would've come sooner, but I couldn't be certain the captain wasn't still patrolling my floor... and if I'm being honest, it hurt to move."

 

The humans let out shuddering breaths as he spoke, not wanting to imagine how much their friend had suffered just to get back to them. They were unable to stop the ceaseless images of the Doctor's bruised form staggering down a corridor toward the Tardis, toward them as he struggled to escape his prison. 

 

"Two hours and he hasn't started healing," Jack observed, "Most of these still look fresh. Rose?"

 

"Yeah?"

 

"I think we're gonna need someone else to look at this," he told her, "Someone with medical experience."

 

Rose raised an eyebrow, and both she and the Doctor stared at him in disbelief, "But we can't?" She protested, "If anyone found out he was here... who the hell can we trust? I don't know any doctors!"

 

"I could probably tell you exactly how to fix this," the Doctor added, "What? I'm not called 'the Doctor,' for nothing."

 

Jack shook his head, "Doctor, how much do you really know?" He asked, "Besides, I know someone. She's a good friend of mine, and she's a medical student. She could at least tell us if that rib is broken."

 

The Doctor and Rose stared at him apprehensively, then they looked at each other, taking in what the captain had just told them. "Are you sure you can trust her, Jack?" The Doctor asked, "Cause if you're wrong, and she says something, they'll hurt the both of you for protecting me."

 

"Don't worry about us," Jack assured him, "We're both here because we care about you, damn the risks."

 

Rose gave him a nod, "Exactly, whatever consequences we face, it'll be worth it," she admitted, squeezing his hand. 

 

The time lord's jaw dropped at their words, moved by what they'd told him. He looked down, suddenly finding himself unable to look them in the eyes. He didn't deserve either of them. He didn't deserve one second of his time here. That was the one thing of which he was absolutely positive. 

 

His companions seemed to notice his sudden silence, and Rose placed her free hand on his shoulder in concern, "Doctor?" She asked softly, "Are you alright?"

 

A sound resembling some sort of mix between a sob and a laugh left the time lord’s throat, “I’m so tired,” he told them, “So tired of pretending.”

 

“Pretending…?” Jack asked, motioning for the Doctor to continue.

 

Their friend swallowed nervously, “Before we left… Before we came here, I was going to end it,” he confessed, trying not to shiver as he told them of his worst sins, “There’s only six hundred of us now, but there would’ve just been me if the high council hadn’t intervened. I was going to do it alone, but they found me, and we realized there was another way…”

 

“But that’s good yeah?” Rose asked in response, staring down at him curiously as her thumb traced circles in the back of his hand. 

 

“Yeah,” he said softly, “But I was going to do it, I was going to kill…” he looked away from them, staring intently up at the ceiling, “I was going to kill all of them just to end this war. It was tearing us apart… The time lords weren’t something honorable anymore… They were worse than the daleks… the other race we were fighting in the war. You might’ve heard of them Jack.”

 

Jack slowly nodded, “The war you escaped… it was the time war, wasn’t it?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow, then when the Doctor replied with a nod of his own, he continued, “And the daleks… Whatever happened… They were destroyed too?”

 

The Doctor looked away from them, “I- we did what we had to do,” he replied, “It wasn’t going to stop. It was never gonna stop… I put up so many shields… I had to, if I was going to do all of those horrible things… I don’t deserve this. I don’t deserve anyone risking their lives for me.”

 

And for just one second, the time lord was completely vulnerable. All of his soul was bared for them to see. There was a look in his eyes of a man haunted by all he’d seen, and from what he was telling them, he’d seen a lot. It hurt Rose and Jack to see him like this. Whatever happened to him the night before must’ve been the final straw, the thing that pushed him past his limits. It must’ve pushed him to let all that he’d suffered simmer to the surface for a moment.

 

But that moment lasted so briefly, and within seconds the Doctor blinked back the mistiness in his eyes, and he looked at the both of them with a distinctly false smile on his face, “So, this medical student of yours,” he started, “Think you could get her here soon?”

 

Jack and Rose looked at each other, and sighed, but the captain gave him a nod, “Sure, Doctor,” he told him, entering coordinates into his vortex manipulator, then looking up at the two of them, “No funny business,” he added before pressing the button that sent him away to wherever his medical student lived. 

 

The blonde let out a light chuckle before she turned back to the Doctor, shifting so that she was lying down beside him, and propping her head up with her hand. “Are you alright?” she asked, “Besides the obvious.”

 

The Doctor turned his head in her direction, “I’m better now,” he replied, beaming slightly at her as his eyes darted between hers and her lips. 

 

It was a signal she didn’t miss, but she also hadn’t missed the way he’d talked about the time war earlier. He looked much the way that soldiers typically looked when they returned home from active duty, but the look in his eyes was deeper than that. It was multiplied by a thousand. All that sorrow was bubbling just under the surface, ready to be let loose. Those shields he had were broken, and slowly, the things they were keeping back were being let out. 

 

“Doctor, what you said about the war, and what you had to do…” she began, but he didn’t let her finish. 

 

“Rose, don’t,” he interrupted, a fire burning now behind those brown eyes that she didn’t know what to make of. His entire body stiffened at the mention of the war, signaling to her that the subject was once again closed off, but she wasn’t letting him get away that easily. 

 

“Doctor, you deserved better than that,” she told him, “You deserved better than that war, and all it made you do. And I know you deserved better, ‘cause despite it all you’re still wonderful. You’re selfless and kind, and you won’t leave those people even though they got you to where you are. You’re here because of them, but you still care about them. Someone like that deserves any hint of kindness shown to him in return. Don’t you ever doubt that. You hear me?”

 

He looked up at her in a mixture of awe, disbelief, shock, and adoration in response to her words. Did she not hear what he’d done? Did she just not care? “Rose, the things I did-” he started.

 

“Were what you had to do,” she finished, reaching up a hand to stroke his hair, then she gently leaned over, and pressed a kiss to his forehead, “And you didn’t even end up doing it anyway.”

 

The Doctor closed his eyes, and took in a deep breath, “But I was going to,” he reminded her, “I was going to do it.”

 

“But you didn’t.”

 

“But I…”

 

“Doctor, stop blaming yourself. It’s over, it’s happened, all you can do is move on.”

 

The time lord shivered slightly as she continued stroking his hair, “But I…” his lower lip trembled, that vulnerability he’d shown a few minutes earlier once again peaking through his broken shields as he tried to put his thoughts into words. Rose didn’t let him, instead, she took that trembling lip between hers in another kiss. 

 

He hesitated at first, but then the Doctor returned the kiss with just as much passion as she had, reaching a hand up to grasp gently at her hair, supporting the base of her skull as he pulled her toward him. She didn’t hesitate to move closer, placing one of her hands on the other side of him to steady herself as she tried not to put any weight on his wounded abdomen.

 

The Doctor’s tongue gently prodded her lips apart, eliciting a moan from Rose, which was easily one of the sounds he currently lived to hear. A thought passed in the forefront of his mind as he wondered just how many more times he could get her to make that sound.

 

Briefly forgetting the bruises and potential broken rib he’d received a few hours ago, the Doctor began to turn himself toward her, but stopped as soon as he felt a jolt of pain rush through him, and he broke the kiss with a yelp. The two broke apart immediately, Rose backing away from him slightly as the pain faded, and he looked back up at her, taking in her slightly disheveled appearance. 

 

“What happened?” Rose asked, “Did I hurt you?”

 

He shook his head, “No, I hurt myself,” he told her, then upon seeing the look of disbelief in her eyes, he added, “I swear. I tried to turn toward you, and, well… I forgot for a moment that I’d been injured.”

 

A smile appeared on Rose’s lips, and she moved back to her position by his side, once again stroking his hair as she let her eyes linger on his, “Looks like we’ll just have to be more careful, then,” she replied, “And you’ll have to keep still.”

 

“But that’s hard,” he complained, his lower lip forming that pout she couldn’t resist kissing right off of his face. She shrugged, then leaned in, and claimed his lips with hers for the second time that day. This time, she shifted so that she had swung one leg over to his other side, straddling his hips as she moved on top of him so he wouldn’t have to move to reach her. 

 

She was still extra careful not to touch the bruises that were slowly fading from his torso, not wanting to cause him extra pain as she deepened their kiss, burying her hands in his hair. It was a place she was quickly finding to be her favorite as she snogged the Doctor senseless, making good work of his lips before she began to trail the kisses along his jawline down onto his neck. This time it was her who elicited a moan from him. 

 

The blonde smiled before she pressed one last kiss onto his clavicle, and looked down at the Doctor, staring at the bruises left by the captain’s guards from a new angle. Gently, her fingers brushed over them, and she could feel his breath growing shaky beneath her touch despite its warmth. His skin was cool beneath her fingers, cool and smooth, and there were slight goosebumps rising on his flesh that made her giggle, “Are you nervous, Doctor?”

 

Another shake of his head, “No, I just…” he began, but unsure how to finish his sentence, he simply reached up an arm, and caressed her cheek before he brought her lips back down to his. Rose smiled into the kiss as she returned it, taking his hair in her hands as she deepened their kiss. 

 

The two spent the next five minutes kissing on Rose’s bed as they waited patiently for the captain to return with his medical student. They’d all but forgotten about the people they were expecting, so when they heard the familiar zapping noise that signified that Jack had arrived in the other room, the two broke apart in shock, and quickly worked to tame their wildly mussed up hair.

 

The Doctor giggled as Rose’s fingers caught on a particular tangle he’d created, but his giggle ceased when Jack opened the door, cocked his head to the side, and stared at them. “Your lack of subtlety astounds me,” he told them, causing the two to blush as he moved into the room, and turned around, “Martha? You can come in, they’re decent.”

 

A light-hearted laugh followed him into the room, and a few seconds later, a pretty dark skinned woman wearing jeans, a t-shirt, and a red leather jacket appeared before them holding a small black bag of sorts. “Doesn’t look like they were doing anything more than snogging,” she observed, looking over the couple, “Probably couldn’t do much with what’s been done to his front.” 

 

The medical student, Martha, walked closer to the Doctor, and bent over him slightly as she took in his injuries, “Hi, I’m Martha, Martha Jones,” She told him, offering her hand. 

 

He shook it, “I’m the Doctor,” he replied, then he frowned, “That’s gonna get confusing later.”

 

The two laughed, then Martha looked up at Rose and Jack, “So, you said he’s got severe bruising to the abdomen and a possible broken rib?” she asked. 

 

Both of them nodded, “Yeah, it’s on his left,” the blonde told her, “I don’t know much about this stuff, but I looked at it, and well… I’ve got eyes enough to know that something wasn’t right.”

 

Martha sighed, then bent down further, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear as she examined the area, then she looked up at them, “Not to be rude or anything, but I’d like some space to work,” she told the other two, glancing down at the Doctor, “And I’m sure this one wouldn’t mind some privacy while I look at him.”

 

Rose gave her another nod, “Yeah, of course, sorry,” she replied, getting up off of the bed, “Come on, Jack.”

 

“I can think of better situations to hear that sentence,” the captain mumbled under his breath, causing the other three people in the room to groan his name as he and Rose left, closing the door behind him as they walked over to the sofa, where Jack tossed aside the blanket he’d slept under before the two sat down. 

 

They were quiet for a moment, but the silence was interrupted a minute later by Rose, “She seems nice, your medical student,” she commented, “Where’d you meet her?”

 

“Right after I got here,” Jack replied, “I landed funny and went to the hospital to make sure everything was working properly. Martha was working with a group of people and we hit it off right away… Not in the fun way. We just became fast friends. Then about a week later, I ran into her again when she was leaving a pub. She was just walking to her car and these guys started harassing her, so I stepped in, she was grateful, said she’d owe me a favor. Figured now was as good a time as any to collect.”

 

Rose smiled, “How’d you know she’d be cool with this, though?” she asked, gesturing to her bedroom door.

 

The captain shook his head, “I didn’t until I talked to her about this,” he replied, “I showed up in her building, and I told her the situation… She seemed pretty damn genuine when she told me she’d help. You can’t fake the look in her eyes.”

 

“Still, can’t be too careful,” Rose muttered, sparing another glance at her door, where she could hear the faintest sound of the Doctor and Martha’s voices, then she looked back at their surroundings. For the first time since she’d woken up that morning, she noticed that her mother’s bedroom door was open, and there was a note posted on the front door. 

 

The blonde stood, and walked over to the note, bringing it back over to the sofa with her before reading it out loud, “Rose, gone out to meet Howard, I’ll be back tonight, love, mum,” she read, then she set down the letter, “Well, that answers why mum didn’t barge into my bedroom this morning all worried.”

 

Jack laughed, “You’re right,” he observed, “With your shouts, I’d’ve thought she’d be in there before I was.”

 

“She would’ve been if she were here,” Rose commented. 

 

“Very true,” Jack replied, then he let out a yawn, “What time is it? Is it even morning?” 

 

Rose looked around the room for a clock, then, seeing none, she walked into the kitchen, and read the time on the mechanical clock they had on the wall. It was half past noon. They had mere hours until the other time lords were supposed to meet Jason and his friend, and they had no idea what the hell they were going to do.

 

“It’s afternoon,” she announced, “It’s later than we thought,” she ran a hand through her hair as she sat back down on the sofa beside him, “I really thought we’d have more time.”

 

“Me too,” Jack agreed, looking toward the door, “We’ve got… what? Five hours? Six?”

 

“I don’t even know if we’ve got that,” Rose muttered bitterly, “No one ever said what time they were meeting, or where…”

 

Jack sighed, “Looks like we’ve got to get moving the second Martha gives him the all clear,” he replied. 

 

Rose let her head fall back against the sofa in despair, but she quickly snapped up when her bedroom door opened, and Martha Jones appeared with the Doctor behind her. His shirt and jacket were now buttoned up, and his hair was no longer disheveled. He looked put together again, and the sight of him made Rose smile. 

 

“Well, good news is, the rib’s not broken,” Martha told them, “Not from what I can tell. I’d normally tell you to go in for a scan, but I don’t think you can in your case. He’s bruised, but they’re healing quickly, so he’ll be fine in a couple of hours, but I’d take it easy until the evening.”

 

The Doctor walked toward them, and spread his arms, beaming, “See?” he asked, “Good as new. Well, still hurts, but other than that…” he turned to Martha, “Thank you, Doctor.”

 

“Well, not a doctor yet, still gotta pass my exams,” she reminded him, “But any time… Jack?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Mind taking me home with your weird wrist thing?”

 

Jack opened his mouth to reply, but she shushed him, “Without the sexual innuendos, please,” she said pleasantly, and the captain obliged with a chuckle, entering the coordinates to Martha’s flat into his vortex manipulator, then holding out his hand for her.

 

“Ready?” Jack asked. 

 

She gave him a nod, “Goodbye, and good luck,” she told the Doctor and Rose, then she put her hand on the vortex manipulator, and she and Jack were gone. 

 

Rose looked at the Doctor, stood up, and walked over so she was standing in front of him, “What do we do now?” she asked, “We’ve got to stop this from happening, and you’re not well yet.”

 

The time lord looked down for a moment, “We’ve got to find them first,” he replied, “Well, I’ve got to find them, you and Jack have got to stay here.”

 

“What? Why the hell would we do that?”

 

“It won’t be safe, Rose. They’re intending to kill each other, and I don’t want you two caught in the crossfire.”

 

“And it’s perfectly safe for you to be in the crossfire?”

 

“It isn’t, but someone’s got to stop them, and it should probably be someone who isn’t easy to kill. If you or Jack got hurt, that’d be it. It’d be over, and I couldn’t lose someone I…”

 

“Someone you what, Doctor?”

 

The time lord said nothing, he simply wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her gently in for a hug so as not to hurt himself. Rose melted into his embrace, and found her arms wrapping around his back, palms clutching at the fabric of his suit jacket, never wanting to let go. 

 

“I’m sorry I got you involved in all this,” he whispered, “This shouldn’t have happened.”

 

Rose shook her head, “Doctor, I wanted to get involved,” she protested, pulling away slightly so she could look up at him, “I made my choice a long time ago when I ran out into the crash site that night. I’m involved now. No stopping it.”

 

The Doctor smiled, then he leaned down, and pressed his lips to hers in a brief kiss, “I don’t…” he started, but as was the theme of the day, she didn’t let him finish his sentence, and she kissed him again, not caring to stop when she heard the familiar zap that signaled Jack’s return. 

 

Not even the former time agent interrupted their moment, and he stood behind them shuffling awkwardly on his feet as they kissed, only clearing his throat when the time between his arrival and their kiss neared fifteen seconds. 

 

The two slowly pulled away, both of them blushing slightly as they turned and looked at their friend. The Doctor squeezed Rose’s hand once more, then he took a step toward Jack, “I’m going to find them now,” he announced, “Like I said to Rose, it’s best if you stay here.”

 

Jack started to protest, but Rose stepped in front of him, “For once, I think I agree with him, Jack,” she told the captain, “We can’t do anything to stop this if they hurt us first.”

 

“Thank you,” the Doctor replied from behind her, then he stepped forward, and planted a kiss on top of Rose’s head, then he turned toward her bedroom, where he’d parked the Tardis, “Time to end this.”

 

Rose and Jack followed him into the bedroom, both with solemn looks on their faces as the time lord walked over to the front of his ship, and unlocked it, pushing the door open before he turned to face them one last time. 

 

Jack stepped forward, and took the time lord into his arms for a quick hug before he stepped back, and allowed Rose the space to give the Doctor a much more passionate goodbye. 

 

The blonde took his hand in hers, and squeezed it, “Don’t come back with a new face, alright?” she asked, “I like this one.” 

 

“I won’t,” he replied, then he leaned down again, and kissed her briefly before he dashed into the Tardis, the door shutting behind him mere seconds before the ship slowly began to fade away in front of them. 

 

Jack shuffled nervously, and turned to Rose, “Now what?” he asked. 

 

“Now we wait,” she replied, staring at the spot the Tardis had just been parked in, “And we hope he stops them.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to leave kudos and comments, they're never unwelcome. Thanks, you guys!


	11. Fatal Mistakes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was a bit of a challenge, that's part of why it took so long... I also started a new job and I just got super busy with that, so I'm sorry this is so late, but it's the true beginning of the end. Here goes nothing.

The Doctor raced about the Tardis console as he flew through the time vortex. He wasn’t sure yet where he was going, but if he weren’t moving, he’d go mad. He stared at the monitor in front of him, muttering to himself, “Think, think, think, think, think,” over and over again, but nothing was coming to mind. He had no earthly or otherwise idea of how the hell he’d find them without creating some sort of paradox.

 

Perhaps that was what he could do. He was a time lord after all.They dealt with paradoxes all the time… But that had also been when they had Gallifrey and all those resources they had in the Citadel they lost in the war… It was best not to create a paradox to find Jason and the Master.

 

He was running out of time, and he had no ideas. He was stuck. 

 

The time lord placed his hands on the console, and stared at the center column intently as if it were some all powerful being that would be able to give him that key thought that would lead him right to the fight.

 

He stared at the column, the centerpiece moving up and down as the ship breezed through space and time, “Think, Doctor, think,” he urged himself, tapping his head with one of his hands before pacing around the console, eyes wandering over the coral structure. 

 

Still there was nothing. Not one thought was coming to the Doctor’s thick, brilliant mind. He was thoroughly stuck. He sat back on the jump seat, and sighed, wondering how he’d even gotten into this mess in the first place. He never should’ve told the Master what Jason was truly planning. He should’ve suggested something else instead. 

 

He’d known the other time lord for centuries. Of course they’d have vastly different responses to someone threatening to kill them. The Doctor wanted to run. The Master wanted vengeance. Sometimes he would swear they were so different, it was like they weren’t even the same species, like they didn’t even have the same DNA.

 

DNA…

 

“ _ That’s it! _ ” the Doctor cried suddenly, jumping up off of the bench with a triumphant shout, and a smile on his face, “DNA! Oh, I am  _ thick _ .” He raced back over to the console, and began fervently typing in a destination, then he raced about the console again as he flew the ship to where he knew he needed to go.

 

Not a minute later the Doctor appeared in the Master’s room at the community. He opened the doors cautiously, hoping that his arrival hadn’t been noisy enough to notify the neighbors, and to check to see if the Master was still there. There was no one in the room. If there was, they were awfully good at hiding, and they were being awfully quiet.

 

The Doctor stepped out, still taking extra caution as he walked further inside. He all but tip-toed his way to the Master’s bathroom, searching for anything he could find that would contain the time lord’s DNA. He stole his former friend’s toothbrush, his comb, the jacket he’d left on the floor, and a spoon he’d stolen from the cafeteria the guards had set up. Anything to help him in his mission to find the Master, which he was planning to do by tracking his DNA.

 

With one last look around the room, he hurried back into the Tardis, and once again headed into the time vortex. He had no desire to find out if someone had noticed the Tardis’s arrival in the Master’s room. He was still healing from his last encounter with the captain. There wasn’t a single part of him that desired to see that man any time soon, or ever again.

 

His hearts pounded as he headed back into the time vortex, and set to work getting the scanner to track the Master’s DNA using the first item he grabbed, which was his toothbrush. Wherever he was in time and space, the Doctor would find him. Hopefully before he encountered Jason. If anyone died when he’d had the chance to stop it, he’d never forgive himself. He was already struggling to forgive himself for letting anything happen in the first place, despite Rose and Jack’s reassurances that it wasn’t his fault.

 

The scanner seemed to have other ideas, seeing as it was being incredibly slow when the Doctor needed it to be the opposite. “Come on,” he muttered, “Come  _ on _ .” He banged the scanner with his hand, then a location popped up, and the time lord fist pumped the air with a victorious shout. He’d done it, he was going to find the Master. He was going to stop this. 

 

As swiftly as he was able to, he entered in the coordinates, and set the ship to fly directly there. He could only hope she’d cooperate this time. The stakes were particularly high that day. If he failed… He didn’t want to think about the consequences, though his time lord brain couldn’t help itself, and thought of them anyway.

 

If the fight were allowed to happen, and the two species killed one another, chaos would descend upon the community. The guards would worsen their torment of the time lords, knowing they couldn’t easily be killed. They would possibly even kill them just for fun, knowing they could change their faces. The public would cry out for the time lords to be eradicated, or try and force them to leave. They couldn’t. The ship they’d arrived in was too damaged.

 

The time lords would be slaughter, and all of the effort they’d put into saving their species would’ve been for nothing. It hurt him to think about as he arrived at his new destination. The Doctor stared nervously at the doors, unsure of what awaited him outside. A sense of dread washed over him, and he took in a deep breath before he strode up to them, and pulled them open. 

 

The first thing the time lord noticed about the place he’d arrived in was the smell. It smelled like a mixture of rubbish and rum. The mixture was a rather pungent odor, and the Doctor crinkled his nose in disgust, barely resisting the urge to plug his nose. It was the sort of smell one might find behind a pub, and upon looking up, he realized that was precisely where he was. 

 

A sign for a pub simply named, “McGann’s,” was displayed on the black door in front of him, and as he looked around, he noticed he seemed to be in the alley behind it. The Doctor stared at the alley ahead of him, observing that it was now sundown, and the angle of the sun was casting haunting shadows over the alley. 

 

A gentle breeze blew past him, carrying an ominous feeling with it. Shivers rushed down his spine as he watched the street the alley lead to. A piece of paper brushed by in the wind, crumpling as it went, but other than that, the alley was silent. Absolutely silent. But as he watched it, he had a feeling it wouldn’t be staying that way for long. 

 

The Doctor looked around, searching for somewhere he could hide the Tardis while he dealt with the Master, and his eyes landed on a blue rubbish bin right behind the time ship. A grim smile appeared on his face as he walked behind it, seeing that there was just enough room between it and the wall ending the alley to park his ship. Satisfied, he rushed back through the doors, and hurried to the console worrying about how the hell he’d stop this from happening. 

 

He set the new coordinates, and seconds later he appeared behind the rubbish bin, and once again stepped out of the ship, and peered around the corner, staring intently back down the alley, waiting for someone to come round. 

 

For a while, no one did, and the Doctor sat in silence, wondering if his ship had misled him again. The navigation system was knackered, and normally that made for quite a bit of fun, but just this once, he needed it to work. He desperately needed to be in the right place, and while logic told him he was in the wrong one, that feeling he was getting… That feeling of impending doom was overwhelming. It was growing stronger by the minute, and he was sure that this was exactly where he was supposed to be. 

 

His instinct proved right, and the Doctor ducked behind the rubbish bin when he heard a familiar voice ring out, but not the one he’d expected to hear. The voice belonged to Jason, and the time lord recalled in vivid detail every moment of their first meeting earlier, and an ache filled his newly bruised chest, though he supposed that was more likely from the captain’s attack in the community rather than Jason. 

 

The aforementioned man’s voice grew louder as he grew closer, and closer, and the Doctor’s hearts raced in his ribcage. “... the knife, and then I’ll pull him in, say for a hug or some shit, and then I’ll get him, and he won’t know what hit him, and you lot will subdue the others, bring them down, and we’ll throw them all in the rubbish bin,” Jason was saying, “For the filth that they are.”

 

A group of men laughed, and the Doctor spared himself the briefest of glances around the corner of the bin to see Jason, Daniel, Mickey, and the two other goons Jason was carrying around with him. “Oh, no,” he murmured to himself as he hid behind the bin again. If Jason was the one there first, he wouldn’t be able to stop this easily, he’d have to put himself at risk. Jason would try to kill him if he showed his face, but he had to somehow stop the Master, and he didn’t have time to find his actual location. 

 

It was virtually hopeless. The bad guys had arrived before… Well, he wouldn’t exactly call the Master’s side the good guys, moreso the less bad guys. But this left him with next to no options as he pondered exactly what the hell he could do in this situation.

 

Another voice filled the space around them moments later, the voice of the Master, and the Doctor closed his eyes as he realized that even with one of the most powerful ships in the universe, he’d failed to stop this from happening. There was almost nothing he could do, even if he sacrificed himself. 

 

Swearing under his breath, he turned around, and cautiously peered around the corner again to see the Master and eleven other time lords. The red buttons were casually placed on their clothing, but highly visible as they approached the humans, fake smiles evident on their faces. The Master must’ve told them what these men were planning, and they must’ve been perfectly content with the idea of regenerating to kill them. 

 

“Get your knives out,” Jason hissed, and the other men quickly withdrew their weapons, hiding them behind their backs before the group of time lords could spot them. The Doctor shook his head as he watched, but then his eyes landed on Mickey, who still hadn’t pulled his out, though his hand rested in the pocket of his jacket. Upon further observation, he noticed Mickey’s hand shaking, and for a moment he felt sorry for him, but that feeling went away when he remembered what Mickey was hesitating to do. 

 

The Master opened his arms as he approached Jason, “We weren’t sure you’d be here,” he said in a falsely kind voice, dropping them, “Seemed like you were having us on for a minute there.”

 

Jason laughed, and walked forward, shaking the Master’s hand, “Oh, but I was,” he told him, a snarl evident in his voice as he pulled the knife out from behind his back, “As if I could ever be friends with your filth. You should’ve stayed wherever the hell you came from.”

 

The time lord in front of him laughed, “You’re gonna wish I did in a minute,” he replied, looking at the other eleven Gallifreyans that had come with him, “Looks like the Doctor was right, they’re not friends, they’re foe.”

 

His human nemesis laughed wickedly, and stepped forward, gripping the knife tightly, “I could never be friends with someone like you,” he hissed. 

 

“Can’t really blame you there,” the Doctor replied, stepping out from the shadows, staring Jason down as the man turned around in fright, those hateful eyes locking onto the Doctor as he walked closer to him, “But that doesn’t mean you should kill him.”

 

Jason merely laughed again, “Oh, this is even better,” he said, a smile appearing on his face, “I could finish you off instead.”   
  


The Doctor shook his head, “I’m warning you, you don’t want to do that,” he replied, genuine concern shining through on his face. If Jason tried to kill him, the only one of the two who would truly die would be him, not the time lord. As horrid as Jason was, the Doctor couldn’t let him die. He couldn’t have any more deaths on his conscious. He wasn’t sure if he could handle it. 

 

“Oh, ho, ho, was that a threat?” Jason asked, eyes wild with anticipation as he turned back to his group, “Did you lot hear that?”

 

They all nodded, “Sure as hell sounded like a threat to me,” Daniel uttered, “I think you ought to shut this one up first.” The others cheered their assent, but the Doctor observed again that Mickey wasn’t saying anything, he remained silent, and his hand had fallen to his side, but no knife was present. 

 

“No, it wasn’t a threat,” the Doctor assured him, “But I know what murder does to the conscious mind, it haunts you every day. It changes you, and not for the better. You become a darker version of yourself, and as time goes on, you become someone else entirely. Can you really live with that? Having someone’s blood on your hands like that? Could you honestly do it? Could you drive that knife into my chest right now?”

 

“Yeah, I could,” Jason growled, “Cause it’s not like I’m killing a person. You may look human, but you’re not one of us. You will  _ never _ be one of us.”

 

“And I don’t want to be,” the Doctor replied, “But even if I’m not one of you, I’m still flesh and blood. I’m still alive, and I’m still standing before you asking you not to do this.”

 

Jason scoffed, “As if that’ll stop me,” he muttered, “But if you are flesh and blood… Daniel, give me your knife,” he added, reaching a hand out for the other man, who hesitantly gave Jason the knife, then watched as he turned around, and tossed it to the Doctor, who caught it with a stunned look on his face. 

 

“What are you doing?” the Doctor asked, his eyes widening as he stared at Jason in disbelief. Why the hell had he just been handed a knife? What was he expected to do with it? Would Jason make him kill the time lords himself? Would he have him try and kill his comrades? Was he planning to blame him for whatever he’d hoped would transpire?

 

“Making it a fair fight,” Jason replied, turning to face the Doctor, “Feel free to say your last goodbyes to your friends before we do this,” he added, taking the time lord by the shoulder, and turning him around forcefully so he was facing the Master and the eleven other time lords directly. 

 

The Master crossed his arms and stepped forward, “All your talk of peace, and look at where we are,” he hissed, “Looks like your way of doing things didn’t work out.”

 

The Doctor sighed, “I’m not gonna fight him,” he muttered, “I can’t.”

 

“Why? You’re a soldier, you’ll win!”

 

“I don’t want to!” the Doctor cried, “The war is over, that part of my life is done. I’m not killing anyone else.”

 

“Pretty sure it’s either you or him,” the Master mumbled under his breath, causing the Doctor to run a hand through his hair in frustration. 

 

“No, there’s always a third option,” the Doctor replied, noticing the Master’s eyes flickering to the space behind him, watching whatever Jason was doing, “That’s what I’m gonna tell him. Cause no one else has to die.”

 

At that moment, the Doctor began to turn around, ready to drop the knife in his hand, and put his hands up, then go with whatever brilliant plan he came up with on the fly. Thinking fast had always been his strong suit. He was fairly certain it was the only reason he’d lived as long as he had. 

 

Unfortunately, that was not what happened. What went down next happened in the span of three seconds, but it felt like a lifetime to the time lord. It felt longer than all nine hundred years he’d lived previously. It was the longest, and blackest moment he’d experienced since his return to Earth. It was the bullet being fired from the gun, or more accurately, the knife entering the body, given that the Doctor hadn’t thought to drop the knife before turning around. 

 

First, the Doctor turned his head, and saw Jason heading towards him with the knife raised, ready to let it descend into one of the time lord’s hearts as he rushed toward him. 

 

Second, the Doctor, not having registered this sight fast enough, turned his entire body around to face Jason, gasping as soon as he noticed what the human man was doing. He raised an arm to block the knife, and the block was successful. 

 

Third, the Doctor was too busy letting a sense of relief wash over him at having successfully stopped the almost-stab, that he forgot about the knife in his other hand as Jason’s body continued to move toward him with the momentum he had. 

 

Fourth, Jason walked straight into the knife the Doctor held in his right hand. The time lord gasped as he felt the knife cut through Jason’s flesh and whichever internal organs lay directly beneath it. He would later learn that it was Jason’s lung and his inferior vena cava, the vein directly beneath his heart. The time lord let go of the knife, and staggered backward, breathing hard as he stared at the blood stain forming on Jason’s shirt in horror. 

 

_ What had he done? _

 

Jason uttered out a choking noise as he stared down at the knife buried deep inside his chest, then back up at the Doctor, “What have you done?” he strained out, then he collapsed to the ground, and coughed out a spray of blood that soaked the Doctor’s chucks, but he didn’t care. He didn’t even notice, he simply stared in panic as the human man convulsed a few times before he grew still, his eyes staring blankly ahead. 

 

Jason was dead, and it was the Doctor’s fault. It was his fault. It was no one’s fault but his. Rose and Jack’s words of comfort wouldn’t help him here. They wouldn’t do a thing, because this time it genuinely was his fault. He was the only one responsible for this. It was his crime. 

 

The Doctor was vaguely aware of shouting from both the humans and the time lords, and a hand on his arm pulling him in some direction, but he didn’t move. He simply stared at the body that now lay at his feet, and felt a flurry of emotions rush through him. 

 

Anger, grief, despair, horror, panic, and a sense of numbness filled him, and because of all of those things he was feeling, he couldn’t bring himself to move, not even when he heard Jason’s gang running past him, and the hand that had been on his arm let go, and footsteps trailed away from him. He stayed there with Jason, merely staring at him. He didn’t even blink. It wasn’t until tears from his dry eyes flooded onto his cheeks that he moved, and even then it was only to bend down, and close the dead man’s eyes. 

 

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, “I’m so sorry.”

 

And he meant it. He was sorry. He couldn’t have been more sorry. He’d turned around to face Jason to stop the fight, to stop the massacre that was inevitably about to go down. Seeing as the other people had fled, both the humans and the time lords, he’d stopped the massacre all right, but at a steep cost. Someone had died. 

 

The Doctor rested a hand on Jason’s shoulder, and continued kneeling by his side until he heard the sound of sirens in the distance. There was no questioning what they were sounding for. It was the murder he’d just committed. 

 

He had to get out of there desperately. But where the hell would he go? He couldn’t go back to the community. Whichever one of the humans had made the call to the police had undoubtedly mentioned that Jason’s killer was a time lord. He couldn’t return to his people, and he probably wouldn’t be able to for a very long time now. Not until long after the two species were successfully integrated, a thing which he doubted would even happen now. He’d messed everything up. 

 

There didn’t seem to be anywhere he could go, and he ran a distressed hand through his hair as the sirens grew closer, and his time to escape grew shorter and shorter. His eyes searched the ground below him as he panted, and tried to think of anywhere he could possibly go with his frazzled brain. He wondered what the hell Rose would say if she could see him now, staring over the body of the man he’d just killed. Would she be able to forgive him? Would she ever look at him the same way again?

 

Rose…  _ Rose!  _ That was it. That was where he could go. That flat in the Powell Estate where Rose and Jack were waiting for him. The one place that Jackie Tyler had promised him he could seek asylum if he ever needed it. That was exactly where he needed to be. 

 

He looked around the alley and then Jason one last time before standing up, and staring down at the red pin he wore on his blue suit jacket. There was no point in wearing it now, and ousting himself as a time lord to anyone he’d pass. With the community now something he could never return to, it wasn’t worth it to wear the cursed thing any longer. 

 

The Doctor let out an agonized shout as he ripped it off of his jacket lapel, not caring about the threads he’d pulled loose in the process, and he threw it into the blue rubbish bin he’d parked the Tardis behind before he raced over to his ship, and with shaky hands, he inserted the key into the lock, and walked inside. 

 

Despite all of the pain he was feeling, he rushed over to the console, and entered in the coordinates for Rose Tyler’s flat, hoping she was still there, and he wouldn’t walk into an empty flat, or worse, a flat with just Jackie Tyler inside. He wasn’t sure if he could handle Rose’s mother at the moment. Sure, she’d been the one who’d promised him he could stay there if he’d needed a place to stay, but he’d still only earned her trust the day before, and he didn’t particularly fancy doing anything to damage it then. 

 

The Tardis materialized in Rose’s flat five seconds later, and the Doctor looked up at the scanned to see that he was once again in Rose’s bedroom, which currently held two sleeping occupants, Rose and Jack. Well, they had been sleeping, they were now both alert and sitting up straight, swinging their feet over their respective sides of the bed as they rushed toward the Tardis, ready to greet the Doctor. 

 

There was a tapping noise coming from the door as the Doctor watched Rose knock on it, calling out his name as she did so. “Doctor?” she asked softly, “Are you all right?” 

 

The time lord took in a deep breath, then he looked up at the centerpiece of the Tardis console and shook his head, “I’m sorry,” he whispered solemnly, “I’m so sorry,” he added, then he straightened his tie, and headed for the ship’s doors. He pulled them open slowly, staring down at the ground, finding himself unable to look his friends in the eye because of the shame he felt, the fresh blood that was quite literally on his hands.

 

“Doctor!” Rose cried, and instantly there was a hand reaching up to caress his cheek, which under ordinary circumstances he would’ve leaned into it, and readily returned the gesture with an even more passionate one, but in that moment he couldn’t shake the numbness that had washed over him. 

 

“Doctor, what’s going on?” Jack asked, “Did you stop them? Is everyone okay?”

 

The Doctor shook his head slowly, “I… I tried to stop them,” he all but whispered, “But he gave me the knife, and… It was an accident, Rose, Jack, I swear it was an accident.”

 

“What was an accident, Doctor?” Rose asked, stroking his arm gently with her other hand as she looked down, and suddenly she gasped, and took a step back. The Doctor knew exactly what she was seeing. She was seeing the crimson that stained his hands, the blood that was still wet, and occasionally dripping from his fingers. Jason’s blood. 

 

“I’m sorry,” he began for the third time in that ten minute period alone, “I’m so sorry.”

 

Jack stared at him in confusion, “What the hell happened?” he asked worriedly.

 

“Jason gave me a knife, he wanted it to be a fair fight,” the Doctor explained, “I didn’t get there in time to stop it. So Jason tried to fight me instead. I turned around for a second to talk to the Master… And when I turned around, I still had the knife in my hand, and he was coming at me… And he walked into the knife. I… There was nothing I could do.”

 

Rose nodded slowly, “I’m sure you did what you could,” she replied, walking around behind him, and placing a hand on his back, “Jack, let’s get him cleaned up.”

 

The captain stared at the Doctor’s hands, then his eyes drifted further down, “I think we’ll want to start with those shoes,” he said quietly, “Not sure how happy Jackie’ll be when she sees the blood on the carpet.”

 

“My mum’s the last of my concerns right now,” Rose replied, “But you’re right. Doctor, do you mind?”

 

The time lord gave her a nod, “No, I don’t mind,” he told her, reaching down to remove his bloodstained footwear, and tossing the shoes into the Tardis behind him. They landed with a loud series of banging noises as the Doctor let Rose lead him into her bathroom, and he began to wash the blood off of his hands as Jack stood at the bathroom door, and crossed his arms. 

 

He watched in sorrow as the crimson liquid flowed from his hands into the sink as the cold water rushed over them, still staring at it long after his hands were clean. He’d taken lives during the time war. He’d had to, but this was different. He hadn’t ever intentionally taken a human life. Sure some of his adventures in time and space before the war had led to human deaths, but they hadn’t ever been directly caused by him. 

 

This was the first time he’d directly killed a human being, and it stung. 

 

“Doctor?” Rose asked, interrupting his gloomy thoughts, waiting until he looked up at her, and shut off the sink to continue, “Do you need to stay here?”

 

The Doctor sighed, “I haven’t got anywhere else to go,” he replied, “Jason’s friends saw it happen. No doubt they told the police it was me. I can’t go back to the community, and no one knows I’ve been here. This is the safest place for me.”   
  


“This is gonna change everything, isn’t it?” Rose asked softly, trying and failing to disguise the fear in her eyes as she looked up at him, “Things are about to get worse, aren’t they?”

 

The time lord wiped off his hands on a towel, then placed one on her cheek, “They are, and I’m sorry,” he replied, “They’re about to crack down on the time lords, and maybe even the humans if it means they’ll find me. But I’ll keep you safe, both of you.”

 

“Small problem,” Jack said from behind them, “Mickey was part of that group, he knows that you’re friends with Rose. If he says something to the police, they could find you here. This isn’t a safe place.”

 

Rose shook her head in disappointment, and placed a hand on his chest, “He’s right,” she agreed with a sigh, “This isn’t safe. We’ve got to take your ship and hide somewhere else.”

 

“We?” the Doctor asked in disbelief.

 

“Yeah, we,” Rose replied, “‘Cause I’m not lettin’ you out of my sight, and I don’t think the police will be too kind to me or Jack either if they come to the flat and find us here. Best if we all run, don’t you think?”

 

The Doctor paused, looking between the two of them to see if they were truly being serious. They were. The two of them were ready to just drop everything and run away with him. “All right then,” he said softly, “We’ll leave in the morning. Sooner if necessary.”

 

“Why don’t we leave now?” Jack asked, “They could come here in the middle of the night.”

 

The Doctor nodded, “And you’re right,” he replied, “They could, but I’m fairly certain we’ve got at least a few hours before they get those blokes’ stories set straight, and before they come and get us, and just this once, I need a minute to breathe.”

 

“I think we all do,” Rose replied, wrapping her arms around him in a brief hug, “Jack, the couch is yours again if you want it.”

 

“You’re kicking me out of the bed?” Jack asked in mock disappointment. 

 

Rose smiled, “I can’t make an injured man sleep on the sofa,” she replied in the same teasing tone, “It’d be awfully rude of me.”

 

“Rose Tyler, you’re a tease,” Jack said, then he winked at the Doctor, “Don’t be too loud.”

 

“Jack!” the two of them cried at the same time as the laughing captain walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. 

 

Rose waited until his footsteps retreated to the sofa in the living room before she shut off the bathroom light, and led the Doctor over to the bed in the hopes that the two would have a quiet night, and the police wouldn’t find them before they could escape. But not even the universe knew what the hell would happen to them when they woke up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are welcome 20/10 times.


	12. Somewhere

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long, y'all. I fought through some nasty writer's block to get this out. I was also stalling on finishing this story, tbh, but I'm not doing that anymore, and I might even have the next chapter up sometime tomorrow. Anyway, this one's here, and it's a tad shorter, but hey, I'm amazed I even got it past 4k words considering the writer's block.

The Doctor and Rose remained silent in her bed for a while. The only noise either of them had made since they’d shut the door was the sound of their shoes hitting the floor as they laid down on the bed. Since then they’d been staring up at the ceiling in the darkness, seeing nothing but black above them as they sat quietly, almost in anticipation. 

 

Rose wasn’t sure how she’d ever sleep. The Doctor was safe, and they were both alive, but she was about to start a life on the run, and she wasn’t sure how long that life on the run would last. She turned over, and used the Doctor’s shoulder as a pillow, sighing when she felt his arms wrap around her not even a moment later. 

 

She could feel the time lord’s hearts beating inside his chest, and she relaxed to the sound of that rhythm against her ears. Though she wasn’t happy that Jason had died, she was grateful that it was the Doctor that had made it out of the encounter. She was even more grateful that no one else had died. Most of them had lived. Their plan hadn’t worked, but they’d done something, they’d saved more than a dozen other lives from slaughter. 

 

The Doctor shifted beside her, and Rose slowly slid off of his shoulder as he turned to face her, and pulled her closer to him until he gently pressed a kiss to her forehead, “I’m sorry I got you involved with all this,” he whispered. 

 

She shook her head, “I made my choice seven weeks ago, I told you, I’ve been involved for a long time. I’m in a bit too deep to back down now.”

 

A smile formed on his lips even though he knew she couldn’t possibly see it in the darkness. He rubbed circles on Rose’s arm as he pressed his forehead against hers, “I’m sorry it’s like this,” he told her, “If I’d known before that this was what they’d be like-”

 

“Shh, you couldn’t have known,” Rose said, pressing a finger to his lips as she spoke, “You may be a time lord, but I don’t think even you could’ve seen this future.”

 

The Doctor laughed, “It’s not entirely bad, though.”

 

“No?”

 

“No. Meeting you wasn’t so bad. Jack’s not half bad either when he’s not trying to get into your pants.”

 

Rose giggled softly, and closed her eyes as they fell into another moment of silence, and her thoughts strayed to what they were going to do the next day. They were actually going to go on the run, and not just anywhere, all of time and space. They could’ve gone any _ when _ . “Where are we gonna go first?” she asked, “When we’re on the run? Will we stay on Earth?”

 

The Doctor shrugged, “That’s up to you and Jack,” he replied, “I don’t want to take you anywhere you’re not comfortable, but…”

 

“But…?”

 

“Wherever will accept us, that’s where I want to go,” he told her, “Somewhere out there, there’s a place for us, Rose. A time and a place, we just have to find it.”

 

She squeezed his hand, and gave him the briefest of kisses, “I know we will.”

 

The time lord sighed, “Are you nervous?” he asked.

 

“Yeah, I am,” she replied, “But I’ll be okay. I’ll say goodbye to mum in the morning, and we can always come back and visit. We’ll just have to come back to a time where your lot are finally accepted.”

 

“Could take a while.”

 

“I think if we can learn to embrace the differences between people in our own species we can learn to embrace you,” she said, gently stroking his hair, “But that’s a problem for the morning. They could find us at any moment, we should try and get some sleep.”

 

The Doctor leaned into her touch, “You’re right,” he replied, “Good night, Rose.”

 

“Night, Doctor,” she whispered, then she closed her eyes, and attempted to drift off into sleep. 

 

She didn’t have much luck. She lay awake for a while, simply resting her eyes, and making no progress on actually falling asleep. The minutes ticked by as Rose continued to stay awake, partially in fear of the police knocking on the door at any minute, and partially in fear of what would happen once they left. Another part of her dared to think of what would happen if they weren’t even allowed to leave at all. 

 

Shaking that thought from her head she let out a groan, then she removed her arm from around the Doctor, and turned to face the ceiling. It was almost as if the room were getting hotter for a moment until suddenly she felt him shift beside her, and a hand brushed hair off of her face, “What’s wrong?” 

 

“Can’t sleep,” she confessed,  “Can’t stop thinking about all we’ve got ahead.”

 

The Doctor propped himself up on his elbow, “Rose, are you sure you want to do this?” he asked, “You don’t have to.”

 

“I want to,” she replied without hesitating, “I promise, but if you expect me not to be nervous…”

 

He nodded, then she shifted onto her side, facing away from him. The Doctor shifted toward her, and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her against him, “I won’t let anything happen to you, that’s my promise.”

 

Rose smiled, then she finally felt herself grow tired, and she closed her eyes, welcoming sleep as it slowly drifted into her mind. As the night passed, by some mercy she wasn’t plagued by nightmares or chills that had her waking up every five minutes.

 

When she woke up, the sky outside her window was a deep purple with faint traces of light peeping through the horizon. The birds had just started chirping as well, signifying that it was indeed dawn. Behind her, she heard the quiet sounds of the Doctor’s breathing, and a smile rose to her lips as she realized they’d just spent the night together. 

 

The happiness brought about by that thought was short lived, however, when she realized why he’d had to spend the night in the first place. He’d just accidentally murdered someone, and they were looking for him, and possibly her and Jack. 

 

Rose resisted the urge to sit up boltright in bed when she felt the Doctor’s hand wrapped around hers over her waist, and instead she slowly lifted it off of her, and placed it on the bed beside her. She shifted as quietly as she could to turn and face him, reaching forward to wake him up when she saw the time lord’s sleeping face. 

 

Most people when they slept could be described as looking innocent, deprived of all their misfortunes in life, as if they’d been given a fresh start. The Doctor did not look that way. His face held a scared expression, his eyebrows were furrowed, and his entire body was tensed. It looked like he was having the worst of nightmares rather than the best of dreams. She could only wonder how long he’d been like that.

 

She gently placed a hand on his arm, and shook him slightly until the time lord’s eyes sprung open, and he sat up with a small gasp. He glanced at her, then at the slowly brightening sky outside, “Guess they haven’t come for us yet,” he whispered.

 

“Guess not,” Rose replied as he looked back at her, “So what do we do now?”

 

The Doctor sighed, and slowly laid back down on the pillow, “Well, I was thinking I’d take the Tardis back to my room in the community-don’t worry, I won’t leave the ship if the guards are there- find my coat -Janis Joplin gave me that coat, Rose Tyler, don’t laugh- give you and Jack enough time to pack your things, say your goodbyes, then I’d come back for you and we’d… We’d be on the run.”

 

Rose nodded, “Sounds like a plan,” she agreed with a nod of her head, “Best wake Jack, then,” she added, moving to get off of the bed until the Doctor tugged at her hand, and gingerly pulled her back down. 

 

She looked at him curiously, “What?”

 

“Just in case things go wrong, I want to spend one last moment alone with you,” he told her, his voice trembling slightly as he spoke, “Just in case the guard catches me, the police catch you, or your mother tries to kill me for what we’re about to do.”

 

Rose burst into laughter at his last comment, “She won’t kill you, she’s not like that,” she assured him, pressing a soft kiss to his lips before she finally rolled away from him, and got off the bed, “I’ll go wake up Jack.”

 

The time lord gave her another nod, then he watched as she walked out of the room, and toward the sofa Jack had spent the night on. Not a moment later he heard a loud  _ THWACK _ followed by a cry of, “Ow!” from Jack presumably caused by Rose smacking him due to some inappropriate comment. 

 

When the Doctor himself walked out of the room, his suspicions were indeed confirmed true, “What  happened?” he asked as he watched Jack rub the top of his head.

 

Jack snickered, “I asked Rose if aliens did it better,” he admitted cheekily, winking at the blonde who was now glaring at him with her arms crossed. 

 

“So I smacked him. He deserved it.”

 

“Can’t argue that,” the Doctor mumbled under his breath as he leaned against the nearby wall, and sighed, “You tell him the plan yet?”

 

Rose shook her head, “Not yet, he was too busy being a pervert.”

 

“What is the plan?” Jack inquired, swinging his legs over the side of the sofa, and standing up to face the two that had emerged from Rose’s bedroom.

 

“The Doctor’s getting his things, giving us time to get ours, say goodbyes, the lot,” she told him, then she turned to the Doctor, “When are you getting back?”

 

The time lord glanced at the clock on the wall, which currently read 5:30, then he looked back at his companions, “Half past six?” he asked, glancing between them to see if this was okay.

 

“Seems a bit short,” Rose commented, turning her gaze to Jack. 

 

“We’re about to go on the run, Rose, we may not even have that long before the police find us. Hell, I’d go so far as to say  _ that _ is too much time,” Jack said.

 

The Doctor gave her a sad smile, “I’m sorry it’s got to be this way.” 

 

She returned the smile, then walked toward him, and placed a hand on his arm, “It’s all right,” she assured him, then she flicked her eyes in the direction of the ship in her bedroom, “Go, we’ll meet you at the crash site in an hour.”

 

The Doctor nodded, then with one last kiss to Rose’s lips, and one last hug from Jack, he turned and walked back into Rose’s bedroom to make his exit. A silence fell the moment he was gone, only to be cut by the Tardis dematerializing, and reasserting itself as the sounds faded. 

 

Once it was gone completely, Rose turned to face Jack, “You gonna get your stuff?” she asked, gesturing to the vortex manipulator he had on his wrist. 

 

The American shook his head, “I don’t really have anything,” he admitted, “Figured I’d just help you.”

 

Rose gave him a smile, then headed into her bedroom to grab anything she thought she’d care about, wondering all the while just what the hell she was supposed to bring on a trip to all of time and space. As she and Jack went through her closet, shoving a majority of it into a red rucksack that had sat in the back for a while gathering dust, she thought of what she’d say to her mother when she had to say goodbye. Eventually she’d have to wake Jackie and tell her what was happening. She could only hope that her mother would be so okay with the Doctor when she found out what her daughter was about to do. 

 

After a while, the rucksack had started to overfill, and Rose closed it off, figuring they could always hop back for a moment if she absolutely needed any of those things. Jack raised a curious eyebrow in her direction, staring at the various other things in the room he’d thought she’d want, but she shrugged him off, and slung the rucksack over her shoulder as she marched it toward the front door. 

 

“You sure you don’t want to go back for anything?” Rose asked Jack, “Say goodbye to anyone? Martha, maybe?”

 

“Nah, Martha was just someone who owed me a favor.”

 

“You said you’d become fast friends.”

 

Jack remained silent for a moment, “Not fast enough for me to want to waste our time,” he told her. 

 

“Jack it’s a time machine,” Rose insisted, “If you want to say goodbye, then go.”

 

Another moment of silence passed between them, Jack toying with a loose thread on the end of his jacket sleeve as Rose watched. “I don’t want to involve her with this,” he explained after a long hesitation, “Not anymore than I already have. Just bringing her in to help the Doctor put her at risk.”

 

“No one knows she was here.”

 

“That’s true, but do we really want to risk anyone else getting hurt?”

 

In that moment Rose’s thoughts turned to Jason, and the body she hoped was no longer lying in the streets. They turned to Mickey, her former best friend who’d allied himself with Jason, who’d been supposedly willing to kill the time lords alongside her former neighbor. Then they turned to Jackie, who’d done a complete one eighty over the past couple of days from resenting the time lords on Jason’s level, to showing the Doctor the kindness and compassion Rose had always known she was capable of. Lastly, they turned to the Doctor himself, thinking of the day in the fountain, thinking of the previous morning when she’d woken to find him lying on her floor bruised and beaten.

 

She didn’t want to see anyone else get hurt because of this. They were better off just saying goodbye to Jackie, and running away. She sighed, and slowly gave him a nod, “You’re right.”

 

Jack opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted by the sound of someone knocking on the door. He and Rose looked at each other, then ran around to the backside of the sofa, and ducked. The captain immediately began programming coordinates into his vortex manipulator, then he took Rose’s hand and placed it over the manipulator. The captain reached over to press the button that would instantly send them away, when they heard a familiar voice called out to Rose through the doors. 

 

“Rose! Rose it’s me!” Mickey’s voice shouted to them. 

 

Rose turned and stared at Jack, wondering just what the hell she should do. “Do I open it?” she whispered. 

 

Jack shook his head, “No, he might have the police with him.”

 

“I could look through the peephole, see if he’s alone,” Rose suggested as Mickey knocked on the door again. 

  
“Rose! Let me in, it’s important!”

 

Slowly, Rose began to stand. Despite Jack’s protests, she then walked around the sofa, and headed toward the door as Mickey continued banging on it, “Rose!” he called out again and again as she approached. 

 

The blonde leaned forward as she reached the door, and peered cautiously through the peephole. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw he wasn’t alone, and with a nervous swallow, she opened the door. 

 

Mickey’s body relaxed the moment he saw her, “Rose can I come in?” he asked, “It’s important, and I don’t want Daniel to see me here.”

 

Rose blinked at him a few times, “What do you mean Daniel can’t see you here?”

 

“He’s still out for blood, Rose,” Mickey explained, “He’s looking for your Doctor right now, he’s helping the police. He’s telling them the Doctor did it on purpose, but I was there, Rose, it was an accident. He didn’t want to do it.”

 

Rose nodded, “I know, he told me,” she replied, letting him walk through the door into the flat. 

 

“Is he here? Is the Doctor here?”

 

“No,” Rose told him as they walked into the flat toward the sofa, where Jack now stood with his arms crossed, “He’s not here, he just left. We’re joining him in half an hour.”

 

Jack cleared his throat, causing Rose and Mickey’s heads to snap in his direction, “Rose, are you sure you can trust him?”

 

Mickey stepped forward, “You can,” he assured the captain and Rose, “I realized Jason was wrong the moment the time lords got there. I realized I couldn’t actually kill any of them, it was wrong. They’re just… They’re just trying to live, and I let my jealousy over the Doctor get in the way of my emotions. I’m sorry, Rose, I’m really sorry.”

 

“I’m not the one you need to apologize to,” she all but hissed, “That’s the Doctor.”

 

“You’re right, but since he’s not here right now, I’m saying it to you. I’m sorry,” Mickey replied, “But there’s something more important I need to tell you. Remember how Daniel’s working with the police?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“He’s got plans to shoot the Doctor once they find him, and here’s gonna be the first place they look. They might already on their way.”

 

“How the hell do you know all this?” Jack asked, staring Mickey down with a stern expression on his face. 

 

“I was at the police station with Daniel,” Mickey replied, “I was trying to talk him out of the idea of killing the Doctor, but he wouldn’t budge, so I left, figured I’d have better success if I warned you what they were gonna do.”

 

Rose stared at Mickey for a moment. She’d seen people have swift changes of hearts, she’d caused her mother to have one over a conversation just two days earlier, but Mickey had been willing to kill someone, even if it was just for a moment. It almost seemed too good to be true, but as she looked into Mickey’s eyes she detected no hint of a lie. He was telling the truth, his change of heart was genuine. He was trying to help her. 

 

“Okay,” she said, “I believe you.”

 

“Rose,” Jack protested, “He could just be toying with us.”

 

“I’ve known Mickey my whole life, I know when he’s lying. This isn’t one of those times. He’s telling us the truth, Jack.”

 

Jack looked at Mickey, who sighed, “I know I haven’t given you much reason to trust me, but you need to,” he told them,  slowly backing away toward the door, “Get out of here as soon as you can.”

 

Rose walked forward, and put a hand on his arm as he turned to leave, “Wait,” she ordered him, then she wrapped her arms around him, “Thank you.”

 

Mickey slowly returned the hug, wrapping his arms around her, and pulling her to him. He said nothing as he held her in his arms for several moments, and she rested her head on the shoulder of her former best friend. Or perhaps he still was. They had miles to go before they reached what they once were before the time lords had crash landed behind the Powell Estate, but the moment he’d shown up at her door to warn her of what was to come they’d taken the first step. 

 

Neither of them said anything as they pulled apart, they simply stepped away from each other, nodded their heads, then Mickey walked back down the hall toward the door, opened it, and shut it behind him as he left. 

 

Not one word was spoken until Jack walked up behind Rose, and she turned around to face him, “Guess it’s time to say goodbye to my mum,” she muttered, “Could you give me a minute?”

 

Jack nodded, then he watched as Rose walked toward her mother’s bedroom door, tapped on it twice, then walked in. As soon as he heard their hushed voices talking, he sat down on the sofa, and waited patiently for the blonde to finish saying her goodbye.

 

Meanwhile in the community, the Doctor was searching through the closet in his room, occasionally tossing things into the open doors of his ship. He’d been extremely grateful that she was able to fit in the small hotel room he’d been holed up in for the past seven weeks, and even more grateful when he’d checked the scanner to find no guards waiting for him. 

 

Unfortunately, the coat he’d gotten from Janis Joplin was nowhere to be found in the closet. The time lord frowned, then he began searching the rest of the small room. He searched the drawers of the nightstand beside his bed, the shower, the underside of the bathroom counter, and even underneath the nightstand, but the damned thing was nowhere to be found. 

 

He scratched his head in frustration, then he realized there was still one last place he hadn’t searched.  _ Under the bed. _

 

Quickly, he ducked down, and lifted up the sheets of the bed to find that his beloved trench coat was sitting right there in a crumpled heap waiting for him. He let out a victorious laugh, then snatched it out from under the bed, and tossed it in the Tardis, letting it hang loosely over the railing. A wide grin spread on his features as he walked toward his ship, ready to head back to Rose and Jack and begin their adventures together. 

 

That plan was quickly halted by a knock on the door, which froze the time lord in his tracks for a moment. His hearts thudded in his chest as he slowly inched toward the Tardis, hoping that whoever was on the other side couldn’t hear him moving about the room. 

 

“Doctor?” a familiar voice called out, a voice he quickly realized belonged to the Master, causing his eyebrows to furrow in confusion. What the hell was his old friend doing at his room? He had to know what would happen to him if he got caught out of his room at this hour. What would happen to him especially if he were caught outside of this room in particular.

 

The Doctor hesitated a moment, sparing a glance at the open doors of his ship, then at the door the Master was quietly tapping on. It didn’t take him long to decide to shut the doors of the Tardis, and open the door to his room and allow his friend inside.

 

“What the hell are you still doing here?” the Master asked the moment he stepped through the door, “They’re looking for you everywhere. They’ve already come here, but they’ll be here again.”

 

“What the hell are  _ you _ doing here?” he asked in response, “You’ll be caught. They’ll hurt you.”

 

“Doesn’t matter, point is, they’re coming, and they know I had something to do with what happened,” the other time lord told him, “I’ve evaded their questioning for now, but I can only do that for so long, and I don’t fancy what’s going to happen when they finally catch up to me.”

 

“What are you saying?”

 

“You’re running away aren’t you? That’s why you’ve got that daft old box in here? I’m saying take me with you.”

  
“No.”

 

“Not forever, just take me, drop me off on some random planet or time period of your choice, just take me anywhere but here.”

 

The Doctor thought for a moment. He knew he couldn’t leave his friend here to the mercy of the guards, but he also knew the damage that could be done by letting him stay somewhere he didn’t belong, letting him simply live on some other planet or time period. What happened on Traken came to mind as a reason not to take the Master with him, but still something felt wrong about leaving him behind. 

 

In that moment, despite the uncertainty of his future, he was certain of one thing. He couldn’t leave him behind. With that thought in mind, he looked at his friend, and gave him a nod, “Okay, you can come with us, but if you harm anyone, I’ll bring you back here. I won’t hesitate.”

 

The Master gave him a grateful smile, “Thank you, Doctor,” he replied.

 

“Don’t thank me until we actually escape,” the Doctor told him, reaching into his jacket pocket for his Tardis key, then inserting it into the lock, “We’ve got passengers to pick up first.”

 

His friend uttered out a barely audible groan, but the sound managed to reach the Doctor’s ears, and the corners of the time lord’s mouth twitched into a grin as he pushed the door open, and the two walked inside, neither one prepared for the danger that awaited them at the Powell Estate.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are always lit, folks.


	13. The End of the Innocence Part One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shit, y'all, sorry this took so long. I got major writer's block, and this was coming out at a rate of two hundred words per day for a while. I knew what I wanted to do with it, but I didn't quite have the drive to write it until I forced myself to buckle down and just do it over the last couple of days. So anyway, it's here, it's the second to last chapter, the next update will be the last, and I'm excited for it, but I won't make any big speeches until then, but thanks to everyone who's read this because I really didn't have a plan for this when I started it, it just happened, so thanks for reading my word vomit with a plot.

Telling her mother that she was about to lead a life on the run was something Rose had thought would be one of the hardest things she’d ever do. When she opened her mother’s bedroom door, she was already sitting up in bed, merely staring at the wall ahead of her, as if she knew what was comin, already awakened by the events that had just transpired in Rose’s room. Her daughter sat down at the edge of the bed, and spoke words she thought would send her mother into tears, but Jackie Tyler failed to meet Rose’s expectations.

 

Instead of a tear felt goodbye, Rose was met with her mother smiling weakly, nodding, and wrapping her arms around her. Confused, the younger blonde hesitated before she hugged her mother back, but she returned the hug nonetheless.

 

The room was so quiet, Rose swore she could hear their hearts beating as they embraced, a silence which wasn’t even broken by their breathing. They were both holding their breath the entire time, as if waiting for the tranquility of the moment to end, for it to break.

 

It didn’t, and the two parted from their hug, Jackie taking Rose’s hands in hers, and sighing, “Be safe, Rose,” she warned her daughter.

 

“I will,” Rose promised, squeezing her mother’s hand, “I’ll come back and visit as soon as I can, I promise.”

 

A sad smile appeared on her mother’s face, and she reached out, gently caressing her daughter’s cheek, “But what if I need to talk to you?” She asked, “If you're traveling all these places… we won't be able to talk.”

 

“We’ll find a way.”

 

A silence passed between them as they stared at each other in the dim lighting, each taking in the gravity of the situation. Not only their current predicament, but the events that had begun not even a week earlier that had led to this moment, though in reality it had begun seven and a half weeks earlier with a loud noise in the middle of the night, and a curiosity Rose couldn't quench.

 

The white noise of the Powell Estate filled the room, a sound Rose had never noticed before the moment she knew she was about to leave. She'd never noticed the slight little tremor in the air conditioning as it cooled the air, or the occasional, muted shouts of her neighbors as they argued late into the night. Infrequent footsteps made their way into her ears as people walked past, and there was the faintest sound of rain falling outside.

 

“I have to go,” Rose whispered, interrupting the serene last moment before she went on the run.

 

Jackie only clutched her daughter tighter, and in return, whispered, “I love you, Rose.”

 

“I love you, too, mum,” she replied, then she pressed a kiss to her mother’s cheek, and pulled away before turning to the bedroom door, and opening it. She didn’t look back at her mum, though she knew Jackie was following her as she walked out to find Jack leaning against the opposite wall waiting patiently for her.

 

The captain uncrossed his arms, and stood up straight as Rose and her mother walked out of the bedroom, and embraced once again before Rose picked up the red rucksack from the floor, and slung its strap over her shoulder. She gave Jack a firm nod, and the two headed down the hallway toward the door, Jack taking the lead in front of Rose as they walked.

 

Suddenly, Jack stopped walking in front of Rose just as they reached the door, and he turned around to face Jackie, a solemn smile on his face as he said, “Thanks for everything, Jackie.”

 

Rose turned briefly to see her mother return his smile, and nod, “I’d do it again,” she told him, “If it kept her safe, I’d do anything.”

 

“I know you would,” Rose replied, voice trembling as she spoke, “I’ll come back to visit, I promise.”

 

Jackie said nothing, but simply nodded as Rose and Jack gave each other one last look, then at last the Captain reached for the doorknob, turned it, and pulled it open. Rose followed him as he walked through, only looking back to pull the door shut, not wanting to see the look on her mother’s face as she left.

 

A lump formed in Rose’s throat as they walked down the hallway toward the stairs, but she swallowed it down before they walked further and further away from the flat she’d known her whole life. From the only life she’d ever known up until nearly eight weeks earlier.

 

She’d expected to feel empty as she left the flat, but she didn’t. In fact, she’d never felt more whole than she did in that moment. It felt as though everything was finally going right, and a smile grew on her face as they reached the bottom of the staircase, and walked out onto the field where the time lords had first crashed.

 

Smoldered remains of the ship were still scattered throughout the landscape, though the actual wreckage had been taken away several weeks earlier. The cardboard boxes still lay there, unused and unnoticed by the general population, or even the crews that had removed the ship. The one thing that was missing from the field was the ship belonging to the Doctor.

 

Rose’s eyes scanned their surroundings for the familiar blue box, but nothing appeared in her field of vision but there was no sign of it. The Doctor wasn’t there. She frowned, and looked back at Jack, “I could’ve sworn it was half past six,” she told him.

 

The captain nodded, looking at his vortex manipulator, “It is,” he replied, “For a time lord he’s shit at keeping track of time.”

 

“Or something bad happened.”

 

Jack sighed, “I’m sure he’s fine,” he assured Rose, “He’s not the greatest driver.”

 

The two shared a laugh, then they stared out at the space ahead of them as they waited for the sound of the Tardis to fill their ears. “Where do you think we’ll go first?” Rose asked, eyes drifting up above them to look at the stars.

 

The captain grinned, “To the bedroom, hopefully,” he replied.

 

“ _Jack!_ ”

 

Another round of laughter occurred, their smiles genuine as they enjoyed their last peaceful moment on Earth. At least, it would be the last peaceful moment they’d get for a long time.

 

“Maybe we’ll go to Barcelona,” Jack said, crossing his arms as he too stared up at the sky.

 

“That’s in Spain, isn’t it?” Rose asked.

 

“Not the city, the planet.”

 

“There's a planet called Barcelona?”

 

“Yeah, went there once back when I was a time agent. Nice place, dogs didn't have noses.”

 

Rose gave him her tongue in teeth grin, “Dogs with no noses, that won't even be the strangest thing we'll see out there, will it?”

 

“There's a whole universe to escape to. You really think dogs with no noses will be the strangest thing you see?”

 

She shook her head, and shoved her hands in the pockets of her jacket, “No, it's just… it's mad, all of it, but…”

 

“But…?”

 

“I can't wait.”

 

The smile on Jack’s face grew wider, “Me neither,” he said, “But I also can't wait for the Doctor forever, where the hell is he?”

 

The two looked out onto the field once again, still seeing no sign of the Doctor’s mysterious blue box. The only sounds entering their ears were the sounds of the city around them, but there was no sign of the Tardis, until suddenly…

 

That familiar screeching sound filled their ears, and the two breathed sighs of relief as they turned around to see the familiar blue box materialize before them. Rose crossed her arms, and stared at the doors in mock disappointment as she waited for the Doctor to come out of the ship.

 

The trench coat loving time lord opened the doors not a moment later, and stepped out of his ship with a look of grim satisfaction on his face. Rose rushed forward, and took it in her hands, “Thank god, you're back,” she breathed, pressing a kiss to his cheek, “Where've you been?”

 

“What do you mean?” He asked in response, “Half past six, that's when we're meeting?”

 

Rose gestured toward the distant horizon, where a small line of yellows and pinks began to breach the darkness as the sun was starting to rise, “Doctor that was fifteen minutes ago.”

 

“Oh, blimey, I need to work on my driving,” he muttered, scratching the back of his head, then looking back into his ship, he added, “I've uh… got a bit of a surprise… brought someone with me.”

 

“Who?” Jack asked, “Another time lord, or are we not your only human friends.”

 

“You're not, but yes, another time lord,” he replied, nudging the doors open, “Not exactly your favorite, but…”

 

He nudged the doors open as far as they would go, then a familiar figure stepped out, the sandy hair and sly grin instantly giving him away to the Doctor’s companions as the Master, as the one who'd caused them a whole bunch of trouble in the first place. He wasn't exactly their worst enemy, but Rose was fairly certain they weren't exactly friends either. She stepped forward, and stared at the Doctor, “Are you kidding me? He's coming with us?”

 

“You don't have to act so excited about it,” the Master teased, leaning back against the Tardis casually, as if it was something he did everyday, as if he belonged there.

 

The Doctor placed a hand on her arm, “He's not coming with us, I'm just his ticket out of here,” he told her, “I'm dropping him off on the first planet I find, and he's going to hide out there, not with us, I promise.”

 

“Why?” She asked, blinking in confusion.

 

“He's an old friend, and he can't stay there,” he explained, “The guards know of his involvement in Jason's murder, they'll hurt him or worse if he stays here. He's coming with us, just for a moment.”

 

Rose and Jack stared at the Master, who was still giving them that sly grin as he leaned against the Tardis. “I won't interrupt your snogging this time.”

 

The captain snickered quietly, but stopped when the Doctor and Rose both shot him a glare, “Sorry,” he muttered, stepping closer to the other three, “Where’s he gonna go then?”

 

“Anywhere,” the Doctor said, “Wherever we end up first, I’ll drop him off, and the three of us will keep traveling.”

 

His companions each gave him a nod, and Rose tightened her grip on the rucksack she’d brought with her, “Let’s get going, then, shall we?” she asked, preparing to walk into the ship with it, when she was stopped by an odd clicking sound, and the feeling that she was being watched, “Did you hear that?”

 

“Hear what?” the Master asked, unfolding his arms, and leaving his comfortable position against the Tardis to stand with the others.

 

Rose watched the Doctor’s face, and noticed his eyebrows had furrowed, whatever she’d just heard, he must’ve heard as well. She hadn’t imagined it, and she’d really been hoping she had. Whatever that noise was, she knew it wasn’t good. She heard the Doctor close the doors to the Tardis as a feeling of dread cemented itself in her gut.

 

There was a shift in the air, and the subtle breeze that had been blowing through her hair seemed to come to a halt as the feeling she was being watched was intensified, and a silence fell over their group as they listened for another sound.

 

“We should get in the Tardis,” the Doctor commented, then he took a step in the direction of his ship, and suddenly time slowed down to the point where they were all fairly certain it had stopped.

 

They watched as the Master’s gaze fell on something behind the Doctor, and in what seemed like slow motion, he rushed forward, crossing the space between himself and the other time lord in about two steps. A determined, frightened look crossed his features, and a confused one appeared on the Doctor’s as his oldest friend placed his hands on his arms, and shoved him to the ground.

 

A sound much louder than that of the clicking noise rang out through their ears in an enormous “ _BANG!_ ” that echoed throughout the Powell Estate. The Doctor hit the ground as the next loud noise rang out, the sound of the Master screaming as a bullet struck him in the chest, the sound masking that of the bullet striking the Tardis, and implanting itself in the wood that composed the ship’s outside.

 

Rose looked on in horror, then she turned her head to see Daniel standing about twenty feet away, standing right beside one of the cardboard boxes. He must’ve hidden behind one of them, that would’ve been the only way he would be able to get away with this without them catching him first. He’d succeeded in hiding, and now all they could do was watch as the Master fell to the ground with his hand pressed firmly to the wound on his chest.

 

The Doctor slowly sat up, slightly dazed from the sudden fall he’d taken, but the sight of his fallen friend brought him to attention immediately, and he moved to see what had happened to the Master, but another shot rang out, this one missing his head by what wasn’t even an inch. The time lord looked up to see Daniel was quickly approaching him, a blazing anger in his eyes as he grew closer and closer until the gun was pressed firmly against his head.

 

“Doctor!” Rose cried with a gasp, watching the scene unfold before her in horror.

 

“Help him,” the Doctor said calmly, eyes flicking to the Master, who was shaking on the ground from where he’d landed after he’d been shot.

 

The blonde moved to help the time lord, but then Daniel took the fabric of the Doctor’s trench coat in his hand, and pulled him closer to him, pressing the gun harder against his skull. “Don’t touch him or he gets it,” Daniel hissed, causing Rose to halt in her tracks.

 

She glanced at the Doctor, and took in his expression, wondering how he could be so calm when there was a gun pressed to his head. He’d told her about regeneration, but could he survive that? Would the bullet take his life before he had the chance to change? She didn’t want to chance it, and she didn’t want him to change either.

 

Her gaze fell on the Master next, and she wondered how long he had before he changed, glowing brightly before the explosive transformation made him a different man. As of that moment, he wasn’t changing, but she knew it wouldn’t be long before it happened, and Daniel saw the time lords’ secret.

 

What she did know was that the Doctor’s friend was most certainly dying. She could hear his labored breathing from where she stood several feet away, and she could see the crimson liquid staining his hands as he desperately fought for his life.

 

She glanced at Jack, who didn’t return her gaze as he stared down Daniel, and Daniel stared down the Doctor, “You brought this on yourself Doctor,” he told him, “You shouldn’t have killed Jason.”

 

“It was an accident,” the Doctor protested, “I didn’t want to kill him, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. But killing me isn’t gonna change what happened, it won’t bring him back.”

 

“No,” Daniel replied in agreement, “But you’ll get what you deserve. You deserve to rot in the dirt, just like the rest of your filth. This is my planet, you don’t get to go around killing my people, living here without my permission.”

 

“Didn’t realize you were in charge of the entire planet, Daniel.”

 

“Shut up! You’re in no position to talk to me like that. I could kill you in less than a second. All I have to do is _squeeze_.”

 

As if to prove his point, he tightened his grip on the trigger slightly, but the Doctor remained unfazed. At least, he did on the outside. There was still just the slightest tremor in his breath, and though no one else knew, his hearts were pounding twice as fast as was healthy for his species. “Daniel, no one else has to die,” he said softly, “We were just about to leave. Let us go, and nothing else will happen, I promise.”

 

“But something already did happen, you killed a man, Doctor,” Daniel replied, “You killed my friend, and someone’s got to pay for that. I’d prefer it to be you. So,” he added, pressing the gun far enough into the Doctor’s head to force him to lean back away from the gunman, “Got any last words?”

 

The Doctor took in a deep breath as if he were about to say something, but then he froze when he heard another frightening sound enter his ears, the sound of people’s voices. Upon glancing up, he realized that people had started to leave their flats, and a small crowd had gathered around them since the bullet had been fired from the gun.

 

“Seems someone heard me shoot your friend,” Daniel growled, “We wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for him, I could’ve shot you and left.”

 

“Why haven’t you done it, then?”

 

“Doctor!” Rose cried, “Don’t!”

 

“It’s all right, Rose, he hasn’t said his piece yet,” the Doctor told her, “He won’t shoot me until he does.”

 

Rose swallowed nervously, then took a cautious step toward Daniel, feeling a lump form in her throat as she approached him, “We’ve been neighbors for years, Daniel,” she told him, “I’ve known you since you moved in. Are you really going to do this?”

 

“Rose, you already saw him shoot the Master,” Jack explained, looking down at the time lord who was still slowly dying on the ground, “He’s more than willing to kill someone.”

 

“It’s more like I’m killing some _thing._ ”

 

“But it was an accident! Please, Daniel, don’t do this, I’m begging you, just let us go, we’ll never come back. You never have to see us again.”

 

“I don’t have to see him again if I kill him either,” Daniel hissed, tightening his grip on the Doctor, “So say your last goodbyes.”

 

“Don’t!” Rose cried out again, “Please, don’t kill him!”

 

“Let me save him!” the Doctor begged suddenly, “Please, you didn’t mean to hurt my friend, he didn’t kill anyone, let me save him, then you can do whatever you want with me.”

 

“Doctor,” Jack protested, “Don’t, he’ll kill you.”

 

“He’ll try, that’s for sure,” the Doctor admitted, glancing up at Daniel, “Please, he’s innocent, for once.”

 

“Oi,” the Master uttered weakly, causing the heads of the people around him to snap in his direction, “Rude to talk ill of a man when he’s dying, Doctor.”

 

Daniel hesitated for a moment, but he didn’t say anything as he slowly pulled the gun away from the Doctor, but kept it aimed firmly at him, “Go,” he commanded him, “But as soon as you’re done, you die.”

 

The Doctor slowly got to his feet, and gave Daniel a nod, “Thank you,” he breathed, then he rushed over to the Master’s side, and began examining his friend’s wounds. The bullet had hit right above his left heart, and now blood was slowly flowing from the hole it had created.

 

“How bad is it, Doctor?” the Master asked, looking up at his friend with a solemn expression, none of his earlier slyness evident in his features.

 

The other time lord was breathing hard as he looked over his friend’s injuries, “It’s not that bad, you can regenerate,” he told him, then he frowned as he heard crowd’s whispers growing louder, “Before the crowd gets bigger, regenerate.”

 

The Master shook his head, “Can’t, they’ll see,” he told him, eyes briefly flickering to Daniel, “You either help me, or I’ll die. They can’t know this about us. We can’t have survived the time war just to have them kill us when they find out. I can’t.”

 

“Please,” the Doctor begged him, “Regenerate, it’s only a bullet, just regenerate.”

 

“I can’t. It’s already hell for our people, I can’t make it worse,” he told him, “So either save me, or leave me behind, and run.”

 

A tear left the Doctor’s eye, and he pressed a hand over the hand the Master was using to cover his wound, “Don’t go,” he begged him, “I can’t save you, it’s too late, please don’t go, don’t leave.”

 

The Master reached up a blood covered hand, and caressed the Doctor’s cheek, “I’ve done a lot of things wrong, Doctor, let me do this right,” he told him, then he took in a shaky breath, “Goodbye, Doctor, and I’m sorry.”

 

With that, the time lord exhaled a slightly choked rush of air, and his eyes rolled back into his head as his body went limp, and the Doctor felt his hearts come to a stop beneath his hand. The living time lord gasped sharply, and took his friend’s body into his arms, ignoring the fact that a crowd had gathered from the concerned Powell Estate residents, and Daniel still had a gun pointed in his direction.

 

Despite the whispers of the crowd, none of them had ever witnessed a more perfect silence. The only sound that anyone paid attention to were the sounds of the Doctor’s sobs as he held his dead friend. Rose felt tears rise to her eyes, and they spilled onto her cheeks as she turned toward Jack, and let him take her into his arms in a comforting hug.

 

The moment was almost peaceful, and it would’ve been were it not for the growing crowd surrounding them, and the other Powell Estate residents watching from the windows, their newly turned on lights illuminating their shadows as they looked down on the tragic scene below them.

 

It was finally interrupted by Daniel pressing the gun against the Doctor’s head, “He’s dead, now it’s your turn, get up,” he demanded, staring down the shaken time lord.

 

The Doctor said nothing, he simply stared at the ground for a moment, a rage brewing in his eyes that he couldn’t quite quench, his breathing hard as he thought through just what the hell he’d do next. It didn’t take him long to create another slow motion moment as he turned on Daniel suddenly, his hand grabbing the gun before the human man could even think, and aiming it at him, fully aware that the safety was still off, and there was a bullet in the chamber. All it would take for him to shoot Daniel would be to pull the trigger.

 

He heard Rose gasp faintly as he aimed the gun at Daniel’s head, and stared him down firmly, his fierce stare unwavering even as he heard shouts from the growing crowd that he needed to drop his weapon. He continued glaring at Daniel, watching the hatred in the man’s eyes turn to fear as he realized the potentially fatal mistake he’d made.

 

“Please, don’t,” Daniel begged, “I’m… I’m sorry, I-I didn’t mean to kill him.”

 

The Doctor said nothing, he simply continued staring at Daniel, his chest rising and falling with each breath he took as the two men stared at each other. He didn’t even hear the protests from Rose, Jack, or the crowd before them as he kept the gun trained on the man who had just killed his best friend. All he could hear was the sound of his own hearts beating rapidly in his chest.

 

After a tense moment, the Doctor lowered the gun, flipping it over in his hands, and holding it out for Daniel, “I never would,” he told him, blinking a single tear from one of his eyes, “Do you hear me? I never would.”

 

Hesitantly, Daniel took the gun from the Doctor, staring at him in shock, seeming to wonder just why the hell he wasn’t as dead as the Master, who still lay in front of the Tardis where he’d collapsed just minutes earlier. “Why?”

 

“Cause that’s not who I am,” the Doctor told him, “That’s not who any of us are,” he added, turning to face the crowd of people that had gathered, their eyes trained on him, Rose, Jack, and Daniel, “We came here seeking peace, we came here seeking shelter, and what the hell did you do? You imprisoned us, you’ve tortured us, and now you’ve killed us,” he gestured to the Master’s body, more tears flowing from his eyes as he spoke, “And I’m sorry that it took someone dying for you to see that we’re not evil.”

 

The crowd of residents from the Powell Estate all began to protest, screaming swears and harsh words at the Doctor until the time lord had had enough.

 

“Stop!” he cried, holding his hands up in the air, “Stop, and listen to me!”

 

For a moment, everyone around him stopped moving, and he sighed, once again taking the gun from Daniel, but this time, he just studied it in his hands, the tears on his cheeks falling onto the weapon as he spoke, “How many bullets are left in this gun, Daniel?” he asked, staring at the crowd before him, at the the humans, “Are there enough for you?” he asked him, then he turned to the others, “Or you?” he asked to one of the men in the crowd, “All of you! All of you killed my friend, and Jason… But not with bullets and knives, but with hate! Hate killed him… Your hate killed him. If I were that kind of man, how many people could I kill with my hate? How many can I kill, Daniel?”

 

Daniel remained silent in the face of the Doctor’s verbal attack, his eyes trained on the ground as the time lord delivered his speech. “I hope you all realize now, what we are,” he continued, “That we’re not evil, we’re just trying to live,” he added, letting go of the gun, and letting it fall to the floor as he walked toward Rose and Jack, and took the blonde’s hand in his, “Let us go in peace, and maybe one day… One day we’ll come back and there won’t be this hatred. This won’t turn into a war between species. One day we’ll be truly integrated, living amongst each other in peace, but until that day comes, I can’t be here, and neither can you two.”

 

“Well said,” Jack agreed with a nod, then he gestured to the Tardis, “Shall we?”

 

The Doctor sighed, “Yeah,” he replied, looking down at the Master’s body, “But we can’t leave him here, I want to give him a proper burial,” he turned to the crowd, “And I can only hope he’s the last friend I have to bury.”

 

The time lord then bent down, and lifted the Master up by the under arms, Jack taking his legs as Rose opened the Tardis doors just enough to allow them entrance, but not enough to allow the crowd to see inside the ship, as they walked into the Tardis.

 

“Doctor, what are we gonna do about them seeing the Tardis?” she asked as she closed the doors behind them following close behind Jack and the time lord as they walked down to the med bay, and laid the Master down on one of the cots inside.

 

The Doctor shook his head, “We’ll wait until they’re gone, then we’ll go,” he told her solemnly, “Give him a proper funeral, then… we’ll go anywhere until we can come back.”

 

Rose took one of his hands in hers, “Are you gonna be okay?” she asked.

 

He turned to her, not even hiding the sorrow in his eyes, “I will be,” he promised her, “But not tonight.”

 

With one last glance at the Master’s body, the time lord reached over, and grabbed a white sheet off of the edge of the cot, and draped it over his friend, swallowing back the lump in his throat as he squeezed Rose’s hand, and led her and Jack out of the med bay, and back into the console room.

 

The Doctor checked the scanner to see that the crowd had disbanded for the most part, then he let go of Rose’s hand, and entered something into the monitor before pulling on a lever, and sending them into the time vortex to begin the first step in their long journey.  


	14. The End of the Innocence Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fuck y'all it's here. It's the final chapter what the fuck I'm so excited. I probably need to edit this more but I'm in the car so I'm not editing this anymore I finished this in my friends car cause I got busy. That's why this is so late. Life's been crazy busy lately, but this is finally done so I'm hella fucking excited (sorry for all the fuckings, I'm just psyched for this) it's finally over, and as fun as eriting this is, I need to move on to other projects. Anyway, here it is.

 

Rose woke up to the sound of someone knocking on her bedroom door, and groaned as she turned her head into a silky pillowcase to try and get more sleep. The feeling of the silky pillowcase, however, suddenly put her on red alert. Her pillowcase was made of cotton, not whatever material this was.

She sat bolt right up in bed, and felt the sheets around her, which were made of a similar material, and a thick and soft duvet covering it all. This was not her bed. This was not the bed she had slept in for the past twelve years since she'd outgrown her kiddie bed.

It was the bed she'd picked the night before on board the Tardis, though, she quickly realized as the memories of the previous evening came flooding back to her. She remembered watching the Master get shot and die in the Doctor's arms, the Doctor holding the gun and delivering his anti-violence speech before they finally left, the Doctor, Jack, and herself putting the Master on a cot in the med-bay, and finally the Doctor telling her and Jack that they could find bedrooms down the corridor from the console room.

She'd picked the first one she'd seen on the right. It was a mostly pink room, somewhat resembling her own except for the material the bed sheets were made of. The silky material had felt smooth and cool beneath her finger tips, and she'd enjoyed every moment of just taking in the room before she heard Jack's cries of "hellll yeaaah!" In the room across the hall.

She had let loose a series of giggles, then she'd turned around to find the Doctor leaning against the door frame watching her with a solemn look on her face, and she sobered before holding out a hand for his. The time lord didn't hesitate to step forward and take it before wrapping his other arm around her.

"I'm sorry this happened to you," he whispered, his voice barely audible even in the relative silence that hung about the room, “I’m so sorry.”

She'd shaken her head, "I knew what I was getting into from the moment we danced, don't be sorry for anything."

There was a moment of silence before either of them said anything. When it was over, the Doctor pulled away, and pressed his forehead against hers as they stood comfortably in their embrace, "I'm about to bury my best friend," he told her.

"I'm sorry," she replied, unsure of what to say, or how to say what little she could think of.

The Doctor said nothing, allowing the silence in the room to once again envelop them. It was so quiet Rose swore she could hear his hearts beating within his chest, and she caressed his cheek briefly before stepping back, and sighing, “Do you think you’ll be able to sleep?”  
He shrugged, “Wasn’t planning to,” he confessed, scratching the back of his head, “I was just gonna go do some repairs on the ship, since she hasn’t traveled much in a while…”

The lie was obvious. He knew it, she knew it, and the Tardis most certainly knew it going by the dissatisfied hum he received in immediate response to it. Rose lifted an eyebrow, and gestured with her head to the bed on the far side of the room, “You could stay with me if you want,” she told him, “You shouldn’t be alone.”

There was a hesitant look on his face, but he slowly nodded, “If you’re okay with it.”

“I”m okay with it.”

“Brilliant,” he said, beaming slightly, though not with the same energy he usually had when he smiled at her.

She understood entirely, and simply offered him her hand before leading him over to the bed. The two flopped down onto it gracelessly and as casually as if none of the day’s events had occurred. After a moment of the two staring at the ceiling, she turned to look at him to find that he had a tear streaking down from his eye onto his temple, but he hadn’t seemed to notice, and the sight of it tugged at her heartstrings.

Still saying nothing, he turned to look at her, eyes wandering over her face with an unreadable expression as she looked back at him. “What?” she asked him curiously.

“Why’d you do it? You’ve got a life, you could live it here,” he replied.

Rose sighed, “Doctor, we’ve been over this, my life’s not going anywhere,” she told him, “Work in a shop for the rest of my life, stay in Cardiff… Where was I going to go before you came into my life?”

“I’m sure you could’ve gone somewhere, you’re brilliant.”

“I’ve got no A-levels, I dropped out of school, how brilliant could I be?”

The Doctor didn’t hesitate to protest, “Rose Tyler, you’ve been nothing but brilliant since the moment I met you.”

The blonde scoffed, but didn’t protest as she simply leaned forward, and kissed his forehead, “No more epic speeches?” she asked.

A soft chuckle was emitted from the Doctor’s lips, “Did you want one?”

She shook her head, “Nah, I was just making a joke,” she admitted, “You seem rather good at it though.”

The time lord beside her simply grinned, saying nothing as he leaned forward, and pressed his lips to hers. Her response to the kiss was immediate, but not rushed. She gently caressed his cheek with her palm, and brought him closer to her.

A soft hum from the ship’s engines sounded quietly in the background as the two continued their passionate, but almost casual kiss. Rose’s hand slid off of his cheek, and found his hand resting at his side, entangling their fingers as she deepened the kiss.

The Doctor responded by letting go of her hand, and placing his on her waist as he pulled her closer. Their lips never separated even as the Doctor tightened his grip on Rose, and the two rolled over so that he was on top of her.

Rose’s wandering fingers came down, finding the buttons on his jacket, and sliding them through one by one until they all came undone, then she reached up and slid it slowly off of his shoulders. The Doctor briefly lost his grip on her as he helped her to take it off of him, but once his hands returned they worked steadfastly to remove her jacket, bringing the zipper down in one swift motion.

They sat up as Rose shrugged off her jacket, tossing it casually on the floor before she wrapped her arms around his neck, and they descended back into the sheets.

Not a moment later, Rose’s hands wandered again, and found their grip on his tie, fingers gingerly undoing the knot until that too was tossed aside, then the blonde ran her fingers through his hair as she kissed him, so lost in the feeling of it that she’d thought nothing of the door to the room being open until she heard a slight creaking noise.

The noise alerted both of them to the fact that they had left the door open, and the two shot apart. The Doctor crawled off of Rose, and walked over to the door, shutting it gently so Jack wouldn’t hear it.

Once the door was closed, the time lord turned back to his companion who’d propped herself up on a pillow on the bed, and was now grinning shyly at him. “Good thing we noticed that before things got more…” she simply gestured with her hands to finish her sentence.

He simply laughed, then he shoved his hands into the pockets of his suit jacket as he sat down on the bed beside her, “We left the lights on, too,” he pointed out, glancing up at the ceiling, where a small, chandelier-esque lighting fixture hung on a small hook.

Rose returned his laugh with her signature tongue in teeth grin, “How do you turn them off?” she inquired curiously.

The Doctor simply reached up, and snapped his fingers, causing the lights in the room to dim until they were shrouded in darkness. The two shared a brief giggle once the lights were off, then Rose heard a shuffling noise as the Doctor resumed his position lying down beside her.

She grinned even though she knew he couldn’t see it, but the grin quickly turned into a soft yawn as it hit her how little she’d slept over the past several days. She’d maybe slept three hours at most before the Doctor had gone off to retrieve his things that morning, and before that she was certain she’d been too busy worrying about what would happen with the confrontation with Jason to get much sleep. She was exhausted.

“You tired?” the Doctor asked softly, brushing a piece of her hair off of her face.

Rose nodded, “Yeah, I haven’t gotten much sleep these past couple of nights,” she admitted, suddenly noticing just how comfortable the pillow she had been resting her head on was.

“We should get some sleep,” he told her, and another kiss was pressed to her forehead before he whispered, “Good night, Rose.”

“Night, Doctor,” she replied, then she let her eyes close, and within minutes, sleep took her over.

When she woke up, the Doctor was gone, which was the second thing she’d noticed when she’d sat up in bed wondering where the hell she was. The knocking on her door persisted, and she groaned as she snapped her fingers, causing the lights to turn on. She was nearly blinded for a second before she slowly swung her feet over the edge of the bed, and walked up to the door, opening it slowly as she groggily looked out to see Jack waiting for her on the other side.

The captain raised his eyebrow at her, “You want to tell me why I saw the Doctor walk out of here five minutes ago?” he asked, “Buttoning the top button on his shirt?”

Rose blinked at him a few times, then she smacked his arm with all the strength she could muster for someone who’d only woken seconds earlier. All this earned her was a warm chuckle as Jack casually strode past her into the room, flopping onto her bed with the grace of a beached whale.

“So how was it?” Jack asked, continuing to act as if he hadn’t noticed Rose’s glare at his accusations.

“It didn’t happen, you pervert,” she replied, closing the door, and sitting down beside him, “I’m still wearing the same clothes I was wearing earlier.”

Jack nodded, “I noticed, but you’re missing your jacket, and he’s missing his and his suit jacket. Something happened.”

Rose simply stared at the ground awkwardly and ran a hand through her crumpled hair, grinning as she remembered it as a nervous tick the Doctor had. They’d only been together for a short time and already she’d begun to pick up on the things he did.

“Rose?” Jack asked expectantly, interrupting her thoughts.

Head snapping in his direction, Rose blushed as she replied, “Yeah, something happened, but not as much as you think.”

“So what did happen?”

“We just snogged, and kept snogging… and it started to get a bit…”

“A bit…”

SMACK!

“Ow!”

“You deserved it! Anyway, we started to…”

“Take each other’s clothes off?”

“Yeah, and then the door creaked, and that’s when we realized we’d left it open, and the Doctor went to close it, I realized how tired I was, and we went to bed, end of story.”

Jack laughed as she finished speaking, then snapped his fingers in disappointment, only to have the lights turn off the moment he did.

The two looked up, and both giggled before Rose snapped her fingers, and the lights were on once again. “So where’s the Doctor now?” she asked curiously.

“Said he was going to the kitchen,” Jack explained, “Wanted a quick cup of tea before he had to give his best friend a funeral.”

Rose sighed, “I wish he didn’t have to,” she breathed, opening the door and looking out into the corridor. She then stood, and held her hand out to Jack, “Come on, then, he shouldn’t be alone. He needs us.”

“He needs you.”

She shook her head, “He needs you, too.”

The captain looked as though he were about to protest, but with one last look from Rose, he nodded, and followed her out into the ship’s corridor. “Have you got any idea where the hell the kitchen is?” she asked.

“No, he just headed off that way,” he replied, pointing in the same direction as the console room, which was only a little ways down the hall.

Finding the coincidence odd, Rose set off down the corridor, Jack following close behind as she walked straight toward the console room, fairly uncertain she’d find the kitchen anywhere near there.

Her intuition turned out to be right. When they reached the end of the corridor and found themselves in the console room, the Doctor was already at the controls, and the ship was in flight. For once, they were flying rather smoothly as the Doctor piloted the ship instead of the usual tossing about they had received in previous flights. It didn’t take either of his new companions long to figure out why.

On the floor beside him was a body wrapped tightly in a sheet, looking almost mummified as it lay peacefully on the Tardis grating. Rose looked between it and the Doctor for a moment before a sympathetic and pained expression appeared on her face, and she slowly walked toward the time lord. She gingerly placed a hand on his arm as he materialized the ship somewhere, and he stepped away from the controls.

The Doctor glanced at her with sad eyes. The faintest traces of tear tracks were visible on his cheeks as he looked at her, then at Jack as he walked down beside them.

“You okay, Doctor?” Jack asked, “This doesn’t look like the kitchen, and that doesn’t look like a cup of tea.”

Jack’s comment earned him a small snicker from the time lord, but the smile disappeared from his face as quickly as it came. “I have to give him a proper funeral,” he confessed.

“So why lie about it?”

“I wanted to do it alone, but I got him out here, I landed the ship, and now…”

“Now?” Rose asked.

The Doctor’s eyes focused solely on her, “Now I…” he started, but the lump in his throat was overwhelming, and he found himself unable to finish his sentence. The one man in the whole universe who could seemingly never shut up had been rendered speechless by all that he’d been through.

It didn’t take him long to power through his speechlessness though, and he finished his sentence with, “I need you, both of you,” a moment later.

Jack and Rose glanced at each other, then they both nodded, smiling grimly at their friend as they assured him that they’d be there with the nonverbal signals. They’d always be there, no matter what. After all, both had just given up their normal, everyday lives-well, Rose had, at least- on Earth to go on the run with him. They would always stand by his side, no matter what happened to them next.

Moments later, the Doctor, Jack and Rose stepped out onto the beach the Doctor had materialized on. The beach looked like any other beach the blonde had seen, but this one had sand that had a pink tint to it, and the waves that crashed on its shore were nearly silent. The night sky was filled with not only stars, but several nearby planets could be seen drifting about, illuminated by the sun the planet orbited. The breeze was scented with a mixture of salt water and what Rose could almost describe as peppermint, a smell which was surprisingly pleasant.

Were it not for the solemn occasion that they’d gathered on this beach for, Rose would’ve marveled at its beauty. She would’ve reached for the Doctor’s hand, and suggested they’d taken a walk at the edge where the waves met the shore. But this wasn’t going to be a happy day. Hopefully it was the last sorrowful day they’d have for a while. They’d had nothing but what seemed like a streak of bad luck as of late.

The Doctor didn’t seem to notice the ocean, or the serenity of the beach, he simply turned away from the water, and looked at where the beach ended, which was where a large forest of what looked like palm trees began. He walked toward it, and his companions didn’t question him as they followed until they reached the forest, which had an oddly large amount of fallen trees and tree limbs at its beginning. The time lord had explained that this was due to a multitude of harsh hurricanes that hit the planet in the summertime, damaging many of the trees in the forest, and pushing the debris out toward the ocean.

Over the next several hours, the three of them worked to build the Master a funeral pyre, each of them sweating by the end of it, but saying nothing as they built it until it reached a height of about three and a half feet, then they stopped, and the Doctor looked mournfully back at the Tardis, then he straightened the collar of his Oxford, and instructed his companions to wait as he walked back inside.

Ten minutes later, the Doctor emerged from the ship wearing the robes he’d worn when the time lords had first crash landed on Earth, and carrying the Master’s covered body in his arms. Rose could tell they were the same robes sans high collar because of the rather obvious scorch marks on the red sleeves. She remembered seeing those scorch marks the very night they’d met, the same night she’d met the dead man he now carried in his arms.

He rested the Master atop the pyre they’d built, then he held out his hand to Jack, who reached into his pocket, and pulled out a matchbox. The Doctor took the matchbox from his hand, and reached inside, pulling out a single, red-tipped match, and striking it against the box, causing a flame to appear on the end. Soundlessly, he tossed the match onto the pyre, and immediately the wood caught fire.

A brilliant red and orange flame began to lick upward toward the midnight blue sky, illuminating the faces of the three funeral goers, who simply stared on in both grief and amazement at how quickly it had caught fire without any accelerant.

“Tragian wood,” the Doctor explained plainly, never taking his eyes away from the fire, “Its sap is a flammable material not unlike gasoline.” He laughed, but the smile accompanying it didn’t reach his eyes, “Never thought I’d have to use it.”

Jack rested a comforting hand on the Doctor’s shoulder, saying nothing as they continued to stare at the rising flame. Rose reached for his hand, and did much the same as their fingers became entwined. They stayed that way, watching as the flames rose higher and higher until they began to burn the fabric covering the Master’s body.

At that sight, the Doctor cleared his throat, and the three of them turned away, walking back into the Tardis, and shutting the doors behind them with only one last glance by the time lord at his fallen friend before they closed completely. With that, he dematerialized the ship, and set them adrift in the time vortex, continuing to say nothing as he walked back down the corridor away from his companions.

Rose made a move to follow him, but Jack took hold of her arm, and held her back, “We should give him some space,” he told her.

She’d hesitated, but eventually she’d given him a nod, “You’re right.”

Jack smiled softly, “What do you say we get to exploring this thing?”

“Can’t believe we haven’t done it already,” she replied, taking Jack’s hand, and leading him down the corridor to explore the massive ship they’d just declared home.

After the Master’s funeral, the Doctor remained relatively quiet for the next several days. He spoke to them, and they went a few places, but he wasn’t his usual excited, cheery self. It was obvious to his companions that the death of his old friend was haunting him, it was constantly clouding his thoughts like a never ending storm. When he wasn’t out with them, he hid himself in his own bedroom. With the exception of their first night together, he spent every night in his room.

Jack and Rose were at a loss for how to help him as they adjusted to their new life. They were both figuring out how to make things easier for the Doctor, and how they’d eventually return to Earth. With the gift of a time machine, they could return the day things went back to normal. It was just a matter of discovering when that was, and it was clear to all three of them that they weren’t even ready to return yet.

Nearly a week after the funeral, Rose knocked on the door she knew belonged to the Doctor’s bedroom, and sighed as she stepped back and waited. She wasn’t sure what she expected. She expected silence, maybe a “go away,” or a weary time lord opening the door and telling her he just wasn’t ready yet. What she got was a smiling Doctor who opened the door as swiftly and confidently as if he were about to take on the universe in battle and win.

“You all right?” Rose asked, curious as to what had caused the sudden change in the mood of the man who had walked around with a rain cloud over his head for the past week.

The Doctor all but beamed as he opened the door wider, “Never better,” he told her, “You doing okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, but-”

“Brilliant!”

“Doctor I was coming to see if you were fine,” Rose explained, stepping into the room, and closing the door behind her, “You’ve spent most of your time in here, alone. I was starting to get worried. Jack had other accusations.” It wasn’t entirely the truth, Jack had been concerned as well, but he’d definitely cracked a masturbation joke or two in all the spare time they’d had together.

The Doctor’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion, “What accusations were those, then?”

She simply had to tilt her head to the side for him to get the point, and the Doctor chuckled lightly as he shoved his hands in his pockets, and sat back on the Tardis blue bed positioned against the wall on the far side of the room. Rose sat down beside him, and took his hand in hers, “We never talked much about what we’d do once we were on the run, it was all about the escape,” she said softly, “I know we’ve been a few places already, different planets and such, but where are we gonna go now?”

“I was thinking Metebelis Three, maybe,” the Doctor replied simply, leaning back until he was lying down on the bed.

Rose joined him, “That wasn’t what I meant.”

The Doctor turned his head, and looked at her for a moment before he said anything again, swallowing nervously. “You were talking about us,” he stated.

She nodded, “Yeah, now that we’re free, we could actually… be something. Become something more than just… sneaking around in the dark when we think no one’s looking.”

“We could… and…”

“And…?”

“I’d love to,” he replied, shifting so his whole body was facing her, and propping his head up on his hand.

  
“Yeah?”

“Oh yes,” the Doctor replied, leaning down, and pressing a gentle kiss to her lips. A kiss which quickly intensified as Rose grabbed the lapels of his jacket, and pulled him on top of her with a flirtatious giggle.

The Doctor broke the kiss to return the giggle, then he took their entwined hands, and laced his fingers with her, “Thank you,” he said suddenly, caressing her cheek with his other hand.

“For what?”

“For everything, for trying to help us that first night, for the dance, for meeting me that night… for taking me in… just… thank you.”

Rose brought her lips back to his briefly, “And thank you for showing me a better life,” she told him, “And you're welcome.”

The two shared one last giggle, then they resumed their interrupted kiss, and descended into the Doctor’s bedsheets as their life together truly began.

After that night, things changed on board the Tardis. The Doctor and Rose, now a real couple were constantly the butt of Jack’s innuendo jokes, and the captain was on the receiving end of their eye rolls. The atmosphere on the ship was the happiest it had been in centuries as its residents traversed time and space.

No matter where they went though, one question always remained on their minds; when could they return? The Doctor had set the scanner to find out when they would be able to return, but even several months in they hadn't been given results. While this concerned them, occasional trips back to the Powell estate made life easier.

They spent Christmas with Jackie twice before the scanner finally turned up some hopeful results. It would be nearly ten years before things would become acceptable for the Doctor to return again. Before the humans and the time lords finally made peace. Integration had started only a year after they left, but like all things, it would take time.

It was only about a year for them, but they returned on New Year's Day 2014 with grim smiles on their faces once things calmed down on earth. As soon as they returned, Jackie was thrilled, ready to take them in for the long run. But even after so long on the run jack and Rose still assured him they wanted to stay.

As the fireworks boomed overhead that night as midnight struck, the Doctor turned to Rose, and holding onto her hand, he asked, “How long are you gonna stay with me?”

She grinned, and as a brilliant pink and gold light lit up their faces, she promised him, “Forever.”

 


End file.
